As the pandemic wanes, the global economy is reshuffling into a new world order, and Indonesia is primed to move into a new position as a regional economic and digital powerhouse.

Once a market that prohibited foreign ownership, Indonesia welcomed its first foreign-owned online marketplaces and web portals in 2016. This opened the floodgates for nearly $3 billion in foreign investment. Today, Indonesia is home to the world’s 9th largest eCommerce market, recording a revenue of US$43 billion in 2021, and contributing to a staggering 29% of global eCommerce growth.

Accompanying Indonesia’s impressive economic progress is deep mobile and technological penetration in the country due to a generation of young, internet-savvy users.

And if you thought that was impressive, wait until you see the projections for the coming decade.

Indonesia is already Southeast Asia’s 2nd largest economy, and experts predict that further adoption of digital payments, along with upgrades in infrastructure, will bring the country's digital economy up to a total value of $130 billion by 2025.

Underlying this vibrant market, however, is a competitive scene dominated by local conglomerates. Price wars are commonplace and threaten the long term sustainability and viability of businesses in Indonesia. Rather than competing on price, businesses that wish to increase their odds of survival should take advantage of the digital-savviness of the nation’s 202.6 million internet users.

Omnichannel marketing connects businesses directly to Indonesian consumers

If there ever was a physical embodiment of the phrase "digital native," an Indonesian social media user would come very close. Indonesians topped the list for time spent on mobile apps, clocking an impressive 5.5 hours a day.

In terms of media channel use, WhatsApp leads the pack with a penetration rate of 87.7%. Facebook Messenger (52.4%), Line (44.3%), and even WeChat (26.2%) are also used by significant portions of the population to stay in contact with friends and family across the archipelago.

As such, businesses in Indonesia are spreading their customer service and marketing outreach tactics across multiple social media channels. This is the right move because in today’s landscape, targeting singular verticals yields minimal results. Indonesian customers are channel-agnostic and accustomed to hopping between conversations across multiple applications.

We know what you're thinking—it’s challenging for businesses to spread themselves out across multiple channels. But the reality is, businesses no longer have the luxury of setting up shop and waiting for customers to approach them. In an era where customers are quick to hop onto the next best thing, the challenge now lies in grabbing customer attention as they toggle between multiple communication channels—both offline and online.

8x8 Connect: Chat apps and SMS in tandem

8x8 Connect is a multi-channel communication platform that is built for knowledge-driven businesses who want to provide personalised customer service at scale. In short, 8x8 Connect makes it easier for customer service agents to keep up with conversations across multiple digital channels from a single screen without stretching their resources thin.

The best part? 8x8 Connect is a low-code solution which can be easily integrated into any CRM system, including the popular Zendesk and Salesforce platforms. Once set up, it doesn’t matter which chat apps your customers are using, your employees will be able to keep conversations running across all the popular chat apps with ease.

Conversations can also be continued via automated SMS, even when connections are down. This is particularly crucial in rural areas of Indonesia which may not have access to robust internet infrastructure. It's also important in the busy cities where people need to maintain continuous conversations with businesses while on the go.

Automated SMS makes it even easier for businesses to keep customers up to date with the latest promotions and track their purchases. With a 98% conversion rate, SMS also serves as a strong complementary channel to chat apps, thereby giving your messages the best chance to be read.

Provide virtual remote assistance from anywhere with video solutions

Customised service means offering customised assistance, which can be hard to do with text alone. 8x8’s video solution helps your customer service agents overcome visual and auditory communication barriers through open-source, high capacity video calls, in real-time! This is especially important in Indonesia, which has one of the highest video call users in the world.

With unrivalled sound and video quality, on top of file and screen sharing capabilities, your customer service agents will be able to render live support as if they were face-to-face with consumers. Remote support is already heavily used by insurance and real estate agents to keep up with customers who have come to expect convenient, on-demand assistance on the go.

"On-demand" is not marketing jargon, either. Activating 8x8 video conferencing literally takes seconds. Unlike other video conferencing apps that interrupt customer experiences by requesting new users to download and open an application, this video solution is completely web-based. This means that it can be accessed directly via email or chat through admin-generated links. As a result, both your customers and your agents save time, effort, and money.

The right digital tools for customer engagement

As the world settles into a new phase, businesses that will eventually come out on top in the post-pandemic order will be the ones that provide memorable, streamlined services that fit into the demands and lifestyles of their customers.

But before businesses dive straight in, they need to equip themselves with the right tools to navigate this new world of heightened digital security, changing customer behaviours, and increasing complexity. It’s all about working smart, not hard.

With 8x8, businesses can take advantage of a full range of proven omnichannel solutions to break through the gauntlet of challenges facing them, and our team in Indonesia is available for support as needed.

Email hello-cpaas@8x8.com, or give 8x8 Connect a try, and feel the difference in reach, connectivity, and quality first hand.