P-ISSN: 2808-0467
E-ISSN: 2808-5051
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1178 This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
THE CHANGE IN CUSTOMERS’ PURCHASING POWER DURING
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ERA
Fenny Rosa
1
, Syahron Al Rosyid
2
, Iman Daniman
3
, Supriatna Toni Saputra
4
, Raden
Dicky Ramadhan
5
Department of Management, STIMA IMMI, South Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia
1
fero_05@yahoo.com
2
syahronalrosyid6@gmail.com
3
iman.daniman48@gmail.com
4
supriatnatoni111@gmail.com
5
r.dickyramadhan@gmail.com
PAPER INFO ABSTRACT
Received: June
2022
Revised: June
2022
Approved: June
2022
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has made many changes that have
occurred very quickly, making consumers change their behavior in
determining the purchase of goods and services.
Aim: The purpose of this study is to provide general information or
representation about changes in consumer behavior, especially on the
purchasing power of consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to
meet their living needs.
Method: This study uses a literature study in which the researcher collects a
number of books and magazines related to the problem and purpose of the
study. Researchers also analyzed data available on internet portals regarding
e-commerce transactions in Indonesia.
Findings: The results showed that consumer purchasing power in the
indicators of selecting types of goods and services through E-Commerce
during the COVID-19 pandemic was dominated by almost 50% by the food
industry, the second is the personal need for hygienic such as masks, hand
sanitizers, etc. This change in purchasing power is illustrated by the increase
in transactions in e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic.
KEYWORDS
pandemic, COVID-19, customer behavior, purchasing power, e-commerce
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused several changes in consumer behavior caused by
limited consumer mobility and government policies to limit people's activities (Alfin, 2021).
This policy starts from PSBB (Large-Scale Restriction), Transitional PSBB (Large-Scale
Restriction), Emergency PPKM, and the last one is PPKM 4 levels. The policy of implementing
PPKM was made to overcome massively the activities of residents during the COVID-19
pandemic so that the level of transmission could be reduced (Mawar et al., 2021).
The implementation of the Implementation of Emergency Community Activity
Restrictions (PPKM) was first implemented on July 3, 2021-July 20, 2021, as an effort by the
government to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the Java-Bali region (Safitri & Dewa, 2022).
This Emergency PPKM Regulation was issued by the Minister of Home Affairs through the
Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 15 of 2021, according to the direction of
the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo which was enforced in 122
regencies/cities outside Java and Bali. Followed by PPKM Level 4 based on the Instruction of
the Minister of Home Affairs Number 22 of 2021 concerning PPKM Level 4 COVID-19 2019
in the Java and Bali Regions from July 21 to July 25, 2021, which was then extended to August
2, 2021 based on the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 24 of 2021
concerning the Implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) Level 4 and
Level 3 COVID-19 in the Java-Bali Region. From August 3, 2021 to August 9, 2021, PPKM
The Change in Customers’ Purchasing Power During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era
1179 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(9), Jun 2022
Level 4, 3, and 2 COVID-19 were applied in Java-Bali with level criteria according to the
assessment. The regulation is stated in the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number
27 of 2021 concerning PPKM Level 4, Level 3, and Level 2 COVID-19 in the Java and Bali
Regions, until now in accordance with IMENDAGRI 19 of 2022 concerning the extension of
PPKM outside Java Bali until April 11, 2022.
The PPKM regulation is claimed by the government as a middle ground from the insistence
of various parties who want a lockdown in Indonesia to be imposed, at least for the capital
area. Indonesia does not eradicate lockdown but rather a strategy for the Implementation of
Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) based on the Regulation of the Minister of Health
Number 9 of 2020. The Regulation of the Minister of Health certainly refers to Law Number
24 of 2007 concerning Disaster Management (Statute Book of the Republic of Indonesia of
2007 Number 66, Supplement to the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Number 4723).
Based on Permenkes No. 9 of 2020, the meaning of the Implementation of Community Activity
Restrictions is the restriction of certain activities of residents in an area suspected of being
infected with Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Mahadewi, 2021; Marwiyah et al., 2021) COVID-
19) in such a way as to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 (Herdiana, 2020).
Figure 1. Development of E-Commerce Transactions in Indonesia (2018-2022)
According to data from the 2021 Bank Indonesia Annual Meeting report, the country's e-
commerce transactions are projected to reach IDR 403 trillion in 2021. This amount grew
51.6% from the previous year which was IDR 266 trillion and is projected to be 530 trillion in
2022.
Based on data from Bank Indonesia, this activity restriction certainly has an impact on
economic activities and changes in people's habitual patterns, especially in the e-commerce
sector, regardless of the new era of globalization and the increasing digital contribution to trade.
Therefore, this analysis is expected to provide benefits as a reference material in evaluating the
impact of PPKM implementation on changes in people's spending behavior, as well as
improving the company's strategy in increasing its turnover.
The Change in Customers’ Purchasing Power During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era
1180 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(9), Jun 2022
METHOD
This study uses a literature study in which the researcher collects a number of books and
magazines related to the problem and the objectives of the study (Sugiyono, 2019). In this case,
the documents used were those discussing customers’ purchasing power during the pandemic
COVID-19 era. Researchers also analyzed data available on internet portals regarding e-
commerce transactions in Indonesia.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Changes in People's Behavior during a Pandemic
Figure 2. Number of Monthly Web Visits on Shopee in Indonesia from the 1
st
Quarter of
2018 to 1
st
Quarter of 2021 (iPrice Group: SimilarWeb, 2021)
Based on data from figure 2 above, it can be seen that transasction during the pandemic
increased quite rapidly. The pandemic in Indonesia began in Q1 2020. For example, the Shopee
platform in Q1 2020 received 71.53 billion visits per month and increased to its peak in Q4
2020, which was 129.32 billion visits per month (Fadhilla & Farmania, 2017). This indicates
that the pandemic is changing the pattern of new habits in society and a new era of globalization
with the increasing contribution of digital aspects to the economy.
During the pandemic, food and vegetables are the most purchased products online
followed by hygienic procedures such as hand sanitizers, masks, etc (Figure 3). This shows
that the public is aware that in the context of efforts to prevent, control, and stop the spread of
COVID-19 is to implement health protocols, and in terms of growth according to katadata.com
taken from Tokopedia data, the growth of Health products increased by 154.9% during the
pandemic and followed by food by 106.1% and what decreased was fashion by -6.9%. This is
an opportunity for business actors, but according to BPS data, "Analysis of the Results of the
Covid 19 Impact Survey on Business Actors. "Companies that have done online marketing
before the pandemic have a higher income of 1.14 times compared to those who have only
carried out online buying and selling activities during the pandemic (Nizar & Sholeh, 2021).
The Change in Customers’ Purchasing Power During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era
1181 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(9), Jun 2022
Figure 3. Main Products Frequently Purchased Online among Customers during COVID-19
Pandemic in Indonesia as of May 2020 (Rakuten Insight, 2022)
Based on figure 3 above, it canbe explained that e-commerce transactions during the
pandemic were dominated by almost 50% by the food industry, and the second is personal
needs for hygienic such as masks, hand sanitizers, dan lain-l ain. Therefore, food and beverages
have enormous potential, especially for MSMEs in developing their markets.
In addition, according to data from statistics, the food industry continues to climb
compared to other industries in e-commerce and is predicted to dominate transactions in e-
commerce as shown in the chart below. From the beginning, only 34.7 million users predicted
in 2025 of 129.4 million users, with the potential revenue from US$ 0.41 million to increase to
US$ 11.31 million, this is certainly inversely proportional to media revenues in e-commerce
which tend to stagnate, but for hobby products, it will be very wide open, because this hobby
product is not an item whose price is above fashion products, furniture and others.
CONCLUSION
1) During the COVID-19 pandemic, the public (Costumers), especially those in big cities,
experienced changes in their special behavior in seeking information related to
goods/services and purchasing power for purchasing goods/services;
The Change in Customers’ Purchasing Power During the COVID-19 Pandemic Era
1182 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(9), Jun 2022
2) The implementation of PPKM has a positive impact on marketplace sales performance
because more and more business actors are switching from offline to online or utilizing
marketplace services;
3) The pandemic as a trigger for people to trade through e-commerce is not only used by
millennials, but also used by people who are "forced" to be able to trade digitally; and
4) The pandemic is a trigger for local MSMEs, especially food and vegetables, that there
is an opportunity to be able to develop a business through a digital platform easily and
cheaply.
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