Medan, Indonesia – Delima, a gross sales consultant in Indonesia’s fourth-largest metropolis, used to break down the second she received dwelling after spending the entire day on her ft serving prospects.
However just lately, Delima, who works at a cosmetics retailer in one in all Medan’s upscale malls, has felt like she has “nothing to do”.
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“The mall is so quiet now, and when prospects do come into the shop, they haven’t any intention of shopping for something. They simply use all of the free testers, particularly fragrance, after which depart,” she instructed Al Jazeera.
Delima’s expertise displays “Rohana” and “Rojali”, the newest buzzwords to sweep Indonesian social media, in motion.
“Rohana” and “Rojali”, portmanteaus of the Indonesian for “teams who simply ask” and “teams who hardly ever purchase”, have emerged as standard web slang phrases to explain the phenomenon of people that go to malls purely to interact in window purchasing.
Whereas it’s troublesome to place a exact determine on Indonesia’s window customers, there are indicators that many Indonesians are tightening their belts as they discover their rupiah going much less far than in the previous.
PT Unilever Indonesia, which produces on a regular basis merchandise starting from ice cream to shampoo and toothpaste, noticed its gross sales decline almost 4.5 p.c within the first half of 2025.
PT Matahari Division Retailer, which operates a sequence of shops promoting garments, family home equipment and sweetness merchandise, noticed a steeper drop of greater than 9 p.c.
Tulus Abadi, the chairman of the Indonesian Shoppers Basis, mentioned discussions of “Rohana” and “Rojali” replicate actual shifts in folks’s materials circumstances.
“Transactions at purchasing centres are dropping considerably. Gross sales of personal vehicles and bikes are additionally declining,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
“This signifies that middle-class shoppers are experiencing a decline in buying energy. But, it’s the center class that’s the driving pressure of the financial system.”
On paper, Southeast Asia’s largest financial system has been in good condition of late. Gross home product (GDP) expanded by 5.12 p.c year-on-year within the April-June interval, in keeping with the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics, the quickest tempo in two years and forward of economists’ forecasts.
Nonetheless, financial discontent amongst Indonesians shouldn’t be laborious to seek out, erupting most visibly in lethal protests that swept the archipelago in late August.
1000’s of Indonesians took to the streets in cities throughout the nation to protest in opposition to funds cuts to schooling, public works and healthcare, in addition to the introduction of a month-to-month housing allowance for lawmakers value about $3,000 – nearly 10 instances Indonesia’s month-to-month minimal wage.
In a survey printed by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore in January, younger Indonesians expressed markedly extra pessimistic attitudes concerning the financial system and the federal government than their friends in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Whereas a median of 75 p.c of respondents expressed optimism concerning the authorities’s financial plans throughout the six nations, solely about 58 p.c of Indonesian youth felt the identical, in keeping with the ballot.
About 16 p.c of the greater than 44 million Indonesians aged 15-24 are out of work, in keeping with authorities statistics – greater than double the speed of neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam.
Authorities officers have downplayed recommendations that Rohana and Rojali replicate real-life circumstances.
Talking at a information convention in Jakarta final month, Chief Financial Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto mentioned spending habits have been merely transferring on-line, pointing to rising family consumption amongst different optimistic knowledge.
“The narrative round Rojali and Rohana is being blown out of proportion,” Airlangga mentioned.
Teguh Yudo Wicaksono, an economics lecturer at Universitas Islam Indonesia, mentioned official financial knowledge painted a fancy image.
Whereas family consumption grew almost 5 p.c within the second quarter, retail gross sales weakened barely, although remaining greater than the identical interval final 12 months, Wicaksono mentioned.
“So, what can we conclude from this indicator? I feel there might certainly be a weakening of buying energy, however this can be occurring in sure segments,” he mentioned.
Wicaksono mentioned whereas weakened buying energy might be at play, shoppers additionally seemed to be shifting their spending patterns.
“Individuals are beginning to improve spending associated to sports activities, hobbies, and leisure. Some are spending on companies,” he mentioned.
“The proportion of this improve in spending has nearly doubled, and that is occurring primarily within the lower-middle-class section. Because of this, the portion of spending in different teams has decreased, particularly for sure varieties of items. That is what we understand because the Rohana and Rojali phenomenon.”
Abadi of the Indonesian Shoppers Basis mentioned the rising reputation of web purchasing had contributed to the Rohana-Rojali development.
“The digital financial system has rendered malls merely a way of window purchasing,” he mentioned.
In a web based survey performed earlier this 12 months by Snapcart, a platform for analysing shopper behaviour primarily based on buyer receipts, half of the Indonesian respondents mentioned they considered on-line purchasing as extra sensible than visiting brick-and-mortar purchasing centres.
Shopee was the preferred platform, utilized by 90 p.c of internet buyers, adopted by Tokopedia, Lazada and Alfa Reward, in keeping with the survey.
Dewi Fauna, an admin assistant for an abroad consumer, mentioned she had begun to embody the Rohana and Rojali phenomenon as a result of funds considerations and the comfort of e-commerce.
“I solely go to the mall to eat within the eating places and I hardly ever purchase something, largely due to the value, and there usually are not as many choices,” she instructed Al Jazeera.
“I don’t like to go searching from one retailer to a different simply to seek out one merchandise. With the identical high quality, you may get cheaper in case you store on-line.”
Fauna mentioned she enjoys frequenting malls for the social facet that they will present.
“I am going with mates or with my husband. I by no means go alone to the mall as a result of the aim of going to the mall, for me, is having enjoyable with mates, and chatting whereas consuming,” Fauna mentioned.
“We solely eat out as soon as per week and, as a result of I wish to discover completely different meals on the eating places, I don’t thoughts spending the cash on that to make myself comfortable,” she added.
