4 Key Takeaways from the Akamai Retail Reimagined Bootcamp Indonesia

Akamai recently held a bootcamp in Jakarta for the ecommerce industry, where leaders of both start-ups and larger ecommerce companies came together to share insights in a highly interactive environment.

The central theme for the bootcamp was building growth in a post-pandemic economy. The delegates spoke about the four pillars that are supporting the industry’s upward trajectory – bold innovation, a frictionless customer journey, a sustainable revenue model, and a secure digital experience.

How do ecommerce leaders scale quickly in a competitive and fast-growing market such as Indonesia? Here are four key takeaways from the Akamai Retail Reimagined Bootcamp Indonesia.

1. An agile and flexible business model drives sustainable growth

Customers are the heart of every business, and today’s customers are immersed in the digital world. This means that social media has a strong effect on consumer behavior – from the way they engage with a brand to their purchase journey. 

Capturing digital real estate on social media platforms is critical and brands will need to create interactive and sticky content to engage effectively. 

Online behavior may differ from region to region

However, given Indonesia’s widespread population, online behavior may vastly differ from region to region:

• First, it is important for ecommerce companies to understand their target demographic. 

• Second, companies need to identify which cities and areas are a priority and how their online behavior is alike. 

• Finally, there needs to be flexibility built into the organization to respond to these unique behaviors for each target subgroup. 

Content must be close to users

For a business to deliver rich content and mobile applications with speed and consistency, servers delivering that content must be close to the customer accessing it. The farther data has to travel, the more latency is introduced, which can have an unexpectedly severe effect on performance, particularly for content-heavy web applications and high-quality video. 

A highly distributed content delivery platform is essential to achieving high levels of performance, reliability, and scale.

2. Leveraging digitalization opportunities builds brand loyalty

The ecommerce landscape is gearing for rapid change as technology continues to develop, and ecommerce players will need to keep up with that. With technological advances in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence comes a corresponding shift in consumer’s online behavior. 

Personalized brand experiences

Users may now want to create their own personalized experience by trying products or accessing product recommendations that suit their needs. 

With technology, brands can build product catalogs in 3D, as well as via AR lenses, allowing customers to experience their products in-store through the AR feature. This builds a rich brand experience on the app, website, and even in physical stores. 

Embracing digital possibilities enabled the bootcamp delegates to weather the global COVID-19 pandemic and build brand loyalty online. 

3. A frictionless customer experience is essential 

Consumers who are digital natives seek a frictionless ecommerce experience. According to the bootcamp delegates, marketplaces – websites that sell products from multiple sellers – are the go-to shop for many Indonesian consumers. With an array of marketplaces to choose from, consumers tend to be loyal to those that provide a seamless shopping experience from product discovery to checkout. 

Adopting an omnichannel mindset enables a seamless customer experience whether the client is shopping online or offline, which bolsters and grows the brand. Organizations can optimize performance and manage traffic, especially during the sale seasons, to ensure a smooth customer journey. 

Better communication, better understanding

An omnichannel strategy reduces the distance and friction between a business and their customers through the increasing number of touchpoints. This can be a social ad, an email newsletter, a mobile push notification, a conversation with a chatbot, or a face-to-face chat with store staff.

Customers are empowered to interact with a company with comfort and ease when the wall between the channels of a business is broken down. Not only does it benefit consumers, but brands are also able to collect data more effectively, which helps them understand the customers better. 

4. Customer trust is built on security 

The number of online shoppers in Indonesia grew from 75 million before COVID-19 to 85 million during the pandemic. This rapid growth of online transactions bred new opportunities for cybersecurity attacks and fraudulent activity, with ecommerce being the industry that faced the second highest number of attacks. 

Shopping peaks, such as holidays and online sales events, tend to induce a large increase in malicious attacks on ecommerce sites. An increase in total traffic for online shoppers around holidays provides attackers with “cover,” allowing them to more easily mask their attacks as websites are hit with heavy traffic. 

Attackers may also target ecommerce websites in an attempt to buy up limited edition or limited supply items to resell for a much higher price. This kind of attack damages a retail organization’s reputation and frustrates its customers.

A smooth, safe customer experience retains customers

Businesses must balance ensuring a smooth customer experience with preventing threat actors from accessing customer data. Organizations may protect their digital infrastructure from cybersecurity attacks and identity fraud with Akamai Bot Manager. 

Customers will feel safe to make a repeat purchase when a brand’s ecosystem is secure, resulting in customer retention. 

Summary

Indonesia is the ninth largest ecommerce market in the world. Avid social media users and a mobile-first market brought the digital ecommerce scene to the forefront in that country. Technology has given power to Indonesian consumers who are seeking convenience, context, and control when shopping online.

Industry leaders at the recent Akamai bootcamp in Indonesia expressed that their current priority is providing a seamless experience for customers to interact with their brand. 

Find out more

Akamai addresses these concerns by enabling protection at the edge without slowing down the customer experience. Learn more about solutions that can delight buyers, streamline operations, and eliminate fraud.