Based on the report from Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia (APJII), more than 50 percent Indonesian (143 million people of 262 million people) has connected with the internet. And from that 143 million people, the average person spends up to 8 hours 51 minutes on the internet, 74 percent people use Google Search to find product information, and 40 percent buy products online. Therefore, the development of digital business is now growing rapidly. Many consumers prefer to shop and do some activities online.

On Thursday, 20 February 2020, Irwan Maulana who is the relationship officer of Gapura Digital by Google had share his lecture in front of Bachelor of Entrepreneurship students at SBM Building.

There are four agendas from Gapura Digital in this class. Gapura Digital is a program which aims to assist the Small to Mid-size Enterprises (SME) to grow especially by increasing the potential customer. The agendas are the online potential for SMEs, what is Google Bisnisku, how to make Google Bisnisku, and the features of Google Bisnisku.

And why do SME have to online too? This is because operational costs are getting cheaper, marketing costs are more flexible, and we can do business by minimizing risk. The operational costs are getting cheaper since we do not need to have a shop or warehouse to start our business. Instead of paying for the rent and staff’s salary, we can easily just use online websites or social media accounts. By online, we also can cut the promotion cost. We could advertise our product anywhere and anytime we need it. Currently, promotion does not spend as much as before the digital era.

Tools available to go online are Google Bisnisku, website, social media, and Google Ads. Google Bisnisku is a free application to manage the online presence of our business in Google Search and Maps. Website is a page which is incorporated to share information or data on an internet network. Social media is an online media where we use to participate and share some contents with the other users. Google Ads is an advertising platform where businesses can do some promotion online. We have to make sure the potential customer has found our business in a right moment. There is some stage of buying a product that is think, search, find, click, engage, and buy. Based on those stages, the seller must really understand what time is the best time to present and introduce the products to prospective buyers.

In Google Bisnisku, there are six superior features which will benefit the SME business to promote themselves. They are business information, photo, post, insight, review, and website. It is available in Google Play Store and App Store. The proven advantages of joining the Google Bisnisku are 7 times larger click, 70 percent improvement of page visit, 50 percent improvement of buying consideration.