The 2010s Decade Review of My Consumptions
By: Aditya Hadiputra
Tags: Startup, Consumerism, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Venture Capital

As I’m closing another decade in my life, I’d like to take step back and see how my consumption pattern changes within the 2010s. Digital economy growth really change average consumer life, take a deeper look into an Indonesian (still millennial) perspective here.

Phone, Laptop, and Electronics

Plenty of Indonesian I could imagine still kept their Blackberry in early 2010s, I didn’t use emails that much yet though, so main reason is to remain attached to network-effect that BlackBerry Messenger used to have. Then, if I didn’t lose my BlackBerry, probably I won’t touch iPhone early in the beginning of 3G era. It was quite a leap, to use a smartphone without physical keyboard. Internet browsing and emails are much better experience now, so smartphone adoption really change things for consumer. I took unnecessary detour by not upgrading my iPhone during the middle of 2010s and chose Nokia (Windows Phone) instead, the app ecosystem never pick-up and it never flies as intended to be. Felt missing out, eventually got back to iPhone, afterall it match with my sturdy Macbook Air (still have it now, and functions).

Xiaomi is somehow Apple and Muji combined, but cheaper

Finally, wrap it up nicely through discovery of Xiaomi (fortunately they invest in Indonesian ecosystem), and bought so much Xiaomi products ever since (Android also fixed its ecosystem fragmentation problem). If only Xiaomi made decent laptop, I probably would get it instead of Dell XPS (Windows 10 fixed a lot of wrongs for Windows) to replace my Macbook Air. Note that ‘Made in China’ still turns off many people in this decade, so kudos to all Chinese brand collective effort that pushed it together to mainstream Indonesian (more choices than Samsung / Apple phone).

Personally, I think Xiaomi and Huawei successfully lift up Chinese brand association with quality, while keeping affordability as price advantage.

Clothing

Felt like oasis in the desert

There aren’t that many indie brands in the early 2010s, so I tend to buy clothes from principal brands under MAP (Mitra Adi Perkasa) group, for example : Zara, Topman, etc. I think most Indonesian male are as happy as me to finally discover Uniqlo market entry to Indonesia. Simple reasons : basic model, wide-range of color picks, quality material at scale, affordable price. I know other brands tried the same thing, but once I bought AIRism and Heattech Uniqlos, I just stick to it.

Not to forget, Hypebeast (overpriced urbanwear and luxury items collector) and Darahkubiru (denim jeans community) are quite a thing in Indonesia as well. Still going pretty strong in trend, especially when it comes to Sneakers (Unicorn company like StockX really legitimizes sneakers as Asset class, no kidding). The Goods Dept and Bobobobo.com also capitalizes on this surge.

News Outlet

I read more Detik.com in the early 2010s, when it’s faster to load and less cluttered than today (ads overload). It used to be the go-to news in Indonesia.

I discovered Flipboard and got addicted to it, found many global trends and felt that I haven’t read that much to keep up (fresh out of undergrads, too busy playing games and reality kicked in). Then, Techinasia and DailySocial came out along with Indonesia startup ecosystem growth, just at the right moment I’m tired of reading TechCrunch, but being so far from the center of gravity (Silicon Valley to Indonesia).

Also consumed content from CB Insights and Pitchbook, a venture-capitalist thing to do, not sure it’s as relevant for Startup Founders, but still quite relevant for Corporate Workers.

Switched from Flipboard to Google News when it came up, and stick to it ever since. Dealstreet Asia also come and grow at the right time of Techinasia fatigue, increasing the quality of local tech news as they compete.

End of the decade, completely switched Detik.com to Kumparan (afterall, it’s filled with Detik.com alumni as well). Also tried to keep my local politics news in check and balance through Tirto.id, Tempo and Katadata. Some Indonesians also subscribe to global news outlet, which signals quality journalism are worth dollars to spend.

LINE Today is the go-to news for me for ‘receh’ (not-so-important) news, usually tempting to be checked around 3pm and worth to dive in those click-bait articles only to scroll to the comment section (most of the time it cheers my day).

Also closed the decade being a Medium subscriber, grown appreciation to people that can write that well (I wish I could do so). I’m learning a lot from the platform now.

Sometimes check Reddit and Quora for specific questions or goofs.

Entertainment

The staple entertainment duo, Netflix-Spotify

I consumed YouTube content early on and grows my time consumption within the platform towards end of the decade (as I watch less TV). It used to take so long for Indonesian content to hit 100K views, but today’s top channel easily hit Million views in 24 hours upload (I haven’t clicked that red subscribe button yet but RANS Entertainment content floats around my feed).

I’m also an early subscriber of Spotify (2012) and it really felt like a breakthrough invention, lately I also listen to podcasts on Spotify, which means I spent more time on the platform. That being said, I think average Indonesian listened more to JOOX, at least in terms of non-subscribers.

Uses Netflix but also had to use VPN to access it. More Indonesians are subscribers (by default) to iFlix rather than Netflix, due to the bundle with Indihome broadband subscription. That means me included, but never really used it except to watch Indonesian movies such as ‘Perahu Kertas’ (Indonesian movies are quite hard to find), User Experience is so bad. Luckily, Netflix is planning to setup Indonesia office and acquire more Indonesia content (we’ll start 2020 with ‘Aruna Dan Lidahnya’). This is also a good signal to Indonesia content production business (fun fact, Gojek’s Go-Studio also produced ‘Aruna dan Lidahnya’). Netflix capital influx would trigger better quality content and disrupt cinema business, in a healthy way.

Also uses Viu, due to the Korean content library, mainly for Running Man (a Korean reality show that once featured Tom Cruise and Ryan Reynolds). What will change is how IndoXX1 and LK21 got government-banned starting 2020, I hope Netflix usage no longer requires VPN afterwards, and Netflix also need to pay taxes to Indonesian government (pretty sure they didn’t).

I watched Twitch, although it’s not that enjoyable in Indonesia, latency is big issue here. Either this will improve, or something like YouTube Gaming eventually fill the gap.

Gaming

BUMN / State-Owned Enterprises PUBG Competition

It’s getting more mobile and social than ever, moving from Dota 2, Diablo 3 and Overwatch to the bite-sized Mobile Legends (ML), Arena of Valor (AOV) and PlayersUnknown Battle Ground (PUBG). Although mainly stick with AOV, I believe the critical masses in Indonesia plays ML, PUBG and Free Fire.

Altogether, it drives esports scene, consumer spending (on skins and heroes), YouTube content (Jess No Limit, EJ Gaming, etc), and unfortunately political agenda (you can easily search for some Indonesia politic figures and those games I mentioned).

Pokemon Go caught the world by the storm, and the hype is no different in Indonesia. Although it fades quickly in less than a year, the power users stick and kept it as profitable franchise.

Ragnarok came back in multiple mobile versions, but never really hit like the original homerun (plenty of Indonesians got lost in Ragnarok in mid-2000s).

Commuter

The dominant commuter choice

It’s admittedly pretty hard to survive in Jakarta without car (that’s why car loan and used-car marketplace still grows). Plenty of tier 1 cities share this trait with Jakarta. Hopefully public transport will get better in the next decade.

Average citizens would choose between Pertamina or Shell to refill car fuel (sorry, Total). The game changer here is OVO-Shell promotion, which makes me pick Shell more often (fun fact, phone usage at gas station seems dangerous, but it’s considered okay for OVO payment).

Parking fees payment were shifted to e-money card, mainly dominated by two big consumer banks, Mandiri and BCA following e-toll card (toll fees) adoption earlier.

I’m also early adopter of Uber, enjoyed the days of Mercedes ride for the price of less than Blue Bird taxi (although I missed their UberCopter PR stunt at Grand Indonesia). However, they’re not local enough to hold ground for long and concede regional exit to Grab M&A deal.

Then came Gojek with much more practical transport in cities like Jakarta. The name rhymes with ‘Ojek’ (Indonesian terms for motorcycle taxi), thus it becomes new slank verb for Indonesian comparable to ‘Googling’. That’s how vital Gojek become to Indonesian life.

Grab is the fuel to Gojek innovation and vice versa. They cross each others through GrabBike and Go-Car, then compete for market share, creating economic surplus for most consumers that swell all that investors dollar. I’m also a subscriber of Grab, it’s more convenient to subscribe if you’re power user. I found Grab commuter trip often cheaper than Gojek.

On-Demand Services

Justin Kan (Y Combinator Partner, Twitch Co-Founder) paid visit to Indonesia in the middle of 2010s and once said starting tech business in Indonesia is similar to do the same in China 2008 (beginning of golden-age).

On-demand services marketplace seems to make sense the most in SEA (Indonesia) due to better unit economics, yet Gojek recently also shutdown the non-profitable verticals of Go-Life. I wonder how it would change in the next decade.

That being said I was a user of Go-Auto (early adopter) to wash my car, Go-Clean (occassionally, during holidays like Eid), Go-Massage (most often compared to the rest), Go-Glam (for ‘wedding occassion’, but HelloBeauty did better experience here).

Online Shopping

There’s no Amazon and no Alibaba (except you count Lazada as Alibaba) in Indonesia. During e-Commerce war of Indonesia, there’s so many choices that burns free investors dollar (discount, cashback, free shipping). Yet I spent more time on Tokopedia and became Platinum member. I’m partly loyal due to the cashbacks, but mainly due to the convenience and clean UX (new Bukalapak eventually mirrored the feel, but I just cannot bring myself to switch).

On special note, JD.id is my preferred Electronics purchase point, I felt more at ease if something goes wrong with my purchase during guarantee period (unless I could buy it from Tokopedia Official Store).

I also shipped a lot more parcels than before, so Tiki, JNE, and other logistics companies definitely gained value here.

One thing that amazed me the most is how fast Shopee grown despite the late start in the competition (4 years and dominating SEA market). Also, the Shopee live quiz is engaging and funny (no kidding, I enjoyed it). I’m dropping their most recently memorable ads here, it featured weird CR.

Banking

Bill Gates is always critical with technology prediction and he also once said : Banking is necessary; banks are not

This effect is yet to be seen in Indonesia, as Banks are here to stay and maintain presence under tight government supervision (BI-OJK). I’ve tried Jenius and Digibank, and yet still stick with the main consumer banks, especially BCA due to the convenience (fast internet banking despite ugly interface, exclusive card acceptance on some EDC machines and no-minimum transaction).

Look at those banners, I would know immediately which wallet to use for which stores.

Numerous e-Wallet emerges to capture consumers transactions (everyone wants to be WeChat Pay /Alipay) and honestly I used them all indiscriminately. Topped up more money to Go-Pay because of recurring Go-Food habit, kept balance within OVO because of Grab subscription and Tokopedia usage, used DANA mainly for Coffee Beans & Tea Leaf and TIX.id (movie tickets) cashbacks, and LinkAja due to office canteen circumstances.

Bottomline, I think digital banking experience is ripe for disruption in Indonesia, if regulator support it, things could get much more revolutionary for Fintech innovation.

Dining / Takeaway

Yelp and TripAdvisor never hit critical masses in Indonesia, except probably in Bali (I mean the tourists use it). Numerous users flock to Zomato for booking and reviews (can’t thank enough people that crowd-sourced photos of restaurant menu) and Google Maps Review of course.

Zomato Gold Subscription

Really hopeful that Zomato Gold (restaurant +1 subscription) continues to exist, enjoyed it as early adopter.

I think nobody can deny the value of Go-Food at this point, it makes consumer life easier and saves time (taking out car, drive to pass through traffic jam and finding parking space is a huge pain anyone can relate, but especially in Jakarta). Go-Food also creates massive digital economy long-tail and gives life to new takeaway coffee chain such as Tuku, Kopi Kenangan, Janji Jiwa, Fore that basically emulates Luckin Coffee success in China. Although there are other also trend that fades quickly such as Dum Dum Thai Tea, multiple Martabak and Gyu-tan Don outlets.

Because I subscribe to Grab monthly plan, I got GrabFood voucher as well, so although the UX is inferior, it managed to draw me to try GrabKitchen (similar to latest Travis Kalanick’s ghost kitchen startup concept) and surprisingly taste decent, but not sure it’s a popular opinion.

Travelling

Discovered Skyscanner, Kayak, Agoda and Booking.com, used them a lot ever since. Until Traveloka and Tiket.com emerges and mainly stick with those two options (and always pick the highest discount). Traveloka UX used to be better, until Tiket.com major rebranding happened (post-Djarum acquisition deal), and Djarum even boosted Tiket.com presence significantly more than their Blibli.com

I wish Indonesia could do more in Experience-end of travelling, meaning more company like Klook, that could boost tourism attraction in Indonesia. Sadly, I have yet to see real government support this area.

Social Network / Messaging

It’s a decade of Social Media adoption to our life

Stopped using Facebook rather early and keep it alive for Internet SSO (Single Sign On) login, made Twitter but never tweet (good for news feed), active on Path and stick because of it’s friend limitation premise then left because of the expanded friend limits (sad to see it shutdown though, so much memories), started using Line because of hype (bought plenty of stickers) then use WhatsApp more often (more universal across demographic), made Instagram account but never got really into it (too much data and time consumption, so just deleted it), tried Snapchat and kept it just for fun camera filter play (but that’s it), enjoyed the short-live of Vine (I found Rich Brian / Rich Chigga Vine content before he got famous, it was ‘receh’-gold) and now the successor, namely TikTok. I see TikTok content as equally entertaining as reading 9Gag in the past, but checking too often will diminish the effect.

A little moment of silence for Google messaging app, the short-lived Allo, although maybe nobody used it besides me and my friends. Then welcome Telegram to replace it, I still don’t get why Indonesian Boomers like to use it (no kidding).

LinkedIn value has grown so much that I made it my primary social media, but that’s probably because I’m working-class. They could do much better with LinkedIn Learning and I have yet to see the potential maximized.

On another note, due to never-ending political campaigns, Twitter remains strong and relevant for Indonesians.

Summary

Good job on making it this far to read it my random thoughts.

Overall, it’s a golden age to be Indonesia consumers (all those venture capital dollars are worth habit-switching). But average Indonesia consumers also tend to have zero loyalty to platform apart from the incentives (I’m sure founders and investors know better), some users though will remain sticky due to convenience value.

On the other hand, it’s also golden age to be entrepreneurs in Indonesia. More capital support than ever, more smartphone (Internet and Social Media) users than ever, grey regulations (it’s plus and minus), supporting government (hopefully gets better),

Now I’m curious how the next decade would change current lifestyle and habit for Indonesian. This post served as my time capsule, so hopefully Medium still exist in 2030.