How Easy It is to Conduct Business Online

(UKWMS-2/9/2019) – In the last few years, the global economy has continued to move into the area of uncertainty, and even more now because of an increased risk of recession. “The Interim Outlook Report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2016 has warned that future world economic growth will be in a low growth trap. Even in October 2019, the IMF again released another report that showed slowing economic growth was being experienced by almost 90 percent of the countries in the world. The main underlying factor is the dynamics of the structure of global trade which sharpens competition between countries,” said Dr. Lodovicus Lasdi, M.M., Ak., CA., CPA., as the Dean of the Faculty of Business at Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University.
In the overall society, there seems to be a change in the style of shopping. Before the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, people had to go to the store to buy necessities. Nowadays, all purchases are just a click away and through an online application or e-commerce. To prove this, the International Business Management (IBM) Program under the Faculty of Business, in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, held a seminar for WMSCU business students. The chosen topic was ‘Expanding the Market Segment of East Java Products Abroad through E-Commerce.’

Ir. Marolop Nainggolan, M.A., as the Director of Export Development and Cooperation of the Ministry of Trade – Republic of Indonesia, was the speaker. According to him, in order to increase the expansion of market segment, it must have a strategy to increase exports. “There are three strategies for our focus. The first is controlling our imported and exported goods, keeping our imported goods in good condition to help our production. Second, expanding the export market, looking for markets where we can expand to receive our products. And third, taking advantage of technology, for example e-commerce, which is cheap, easy and fast as a means of digital marketing,” explained Marolop.
The lecture was followed by a talkshow with three speakers, namely Dr. Wahyudi Wibowo, ST., M.M., as the Coordinator of the IBM Program, Zebedeus from Ralali.com, and Maulina from Kalyana Indonesia. The talkshow was moderated by Yulika Rosita Agrippina, S.M., MIB, a lecturer at the WMSCU-IBM program. Zebedeus began by saying that doing business online is easy but also dangerous. “It’s easy to open an online store, but you also have to be careful when making a transaction. Now, my tips for you, to sell quickly online can be tried by providing a complete and interesting title for your product so the product can appear in all searches. Furthermore, it needs to be supported with interesting photos and clear descriptions,” said Zebedeus.
Maulina added that if there are difficulties or obstacles when selling, always provide good service and treatment to buyers so that they will later come back and make repeated purchases. “I also use Kalyana products myself, so I know the drawbacks before they are sold and used by many people,” she concluded.