Why MSMEs Should Start Reducing Their Dependence on Marketplaces in 2026

Over the past few years, marketplaces have become the preferred shortcut for Indonesian MSMEs that want to start selling online. Registration is easy, traffic is readily available, and customers are already comfortable shopping there. However, this convenience comes with costs that are often overlooked at the beginning.

Whenever marketplaces compete through aggressive discounts, merchants’ margins are usually the first to shrink. Administrative fees, in-platform advertising costs, and free-shipping subsidies charged to sellers continue to add up. There is also the issue of customer data: who your buyers are, what they like, and when they usually purchase again. That information is controlled by the platform, not by your business.

Another risk is that your brand can easily disappear among thousands of similar sellers. Customers tend to remember that they “bought it on marketplace X” rather than remembering your store. When a competitor offers a slightly lower price, they can switch without hesitation because their loyalty is psychologically tied to the platform, not to your brand.

This does not mean marketplaces should be abandoned entirely. They remain a valid customer-acquisition channel. However, MSMEs that want to build a healthy long-term business also need their own D2C (direct-to-consumer) channel: an online store with their own brand, domain, and customer data that can be used to build genuine loyalty.

This is why SONAR was created: to help Indonesian MSMEs build a digital home of their own instead of operating only from someone else’s platform.