- Indonesia enacted a law banning e-commerce transactions on social media in late September.
- TikTok has more than 125 million users in Indonesia.
- The new law sets a minimum price of $100 for certain foreign goods bought online.
TikTok is retreating from Indonesia’s online shopping space as from October 4 according to the company.
The move follows regulations that banned e-commerce transactions on social media apps by the Indonesian government. This was explained as a way to protect local physical and online retailers.
TikTok Shop had one of its highest number of users in Indonesia with over 2 million vendors using the platform according to the company.
The Bytedance-owned app had indicated it will adhere to the new rules when the initial regulations were announced. “Our priority is to remain compliant with local laws and regulations,” TikTok said in a statement.
Tokopedia, Shopee and Lazada are some of the largest players in the e-commerce market in Indonesia and had been steadily losing market share to the social media giant.
