Ryansa Fikri, owner of the Zenitha Muslim fashion brand, remembers very well the difficult times when his business almost went out of business. He said he started selling online in 2017, but his digital store was "suspended animation" as sales fell sharply.
The turning point came when he tried the live feature on Shopee, although initially only a handful of people watched it. Slowly, a consistent advertising strategy made his business rise and is now able to reach hundreds of thousands of orders every month.
"In the past, only one or two people watched live , at most two orders a month, but now thank God it is hundreds of thousands per month," Fikri told SUAR in Jakarta.
He said the success was born from a combination of advertising on Shopee, vigorous promotion on social media, and maximum utilization of all features available on the platform.
Fikri was insecure because his background did not match what he was doing now. Fikri was a materials engineer and had worked in that field.
"Not to mention when I see my friends who have traveled abroad and continued their studies," he said.
Nevertheless, Fikri is now fully convinced of what he is doing. Trading, for him, is not only a place to earn money, but also to contribute to creating jobs.
For Fikri, Shopee's UMKM competition program is a learning platform that accelerates the maturity of his business. He gained a lot of knowledge, both from mentors, judges, and fellow participants.
The challenges presented forced him to adapt quickly and explore new strategies. He believes this experience can inspire others that even a business from scratch can grow big with determination and the use of technology.
A similar story comes from Michael Wok, who owns a badminton bag business under the brand Maritim Bag Indonesia.
He believes that participating in the live program of one of the e-commerce sites not only provides a platform for his products, but also opens access to a network of other business actors.
From that interaction, he learned first-hand how a larger-scale business could be run.
"Meeting friends whose businesses are super big has given me knowledge that I never knew before," says Michael.
Michael revealed that the presence of experienced mentors is also an important key in this program. According to him, the knowledge from these practitioners is very helpful for small UMKM players like himself to scale-up their business.
He is optimistic that the knowledge gained can expand his product market to a larger level.
Meanwhile, Yudiana Lyn from homLiv tells a different story. She started her wooden cookware business in late 2020 with only two artisans. Within four years, her business grew rapidly to empower around 50 artisans in Krebet Tourism Village, Yogyakarta.
HomLiv products have now spread to more than a thousand outlets in Indonesia and even penetrated the Japanese market.
Export to Japan
According to Yudiana, the success of exports to Japan is proof that the quality of local products can compete with foreign goods.
"Japan has very high standards, but our products can be accepted, even in the midst of competition with goods from China," he said.
He explained that homLiv's strength lies in its teak wood raw materials and the skills of local artisans who produce fine quality.
Yudiana also emphasized the importance of following international standardization to support business expansion. HomLiv has obtained ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications, and is currently applying for a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) license to strengthen its penetration into the European and US markets.
Homliv currently produces 30,000 units per month, with a record 64,000 units exported in two months to Japan. It is preparing to expand to Malaysia and Singapore through export channels provided by Shopee.
UMKM champion
The three UMKM stories are included in the 20 finalists who will be selected to compete for Rp1 billion in business capital in the Shopee Jagoan UMKM Naik Kelas program.
The program was attended by more than 1,300 applicants from various cities. will go through six business challenges, ranging from growth presentation, "Cinta Indonesia" themed product development, to creative marketing content. Other challenges include a "logistics race", a one-minute pitch to investors, and live sales in the grand final round.
Shopee calls the Shopee Jagoan UMKM Naik Kelas program a form of continuous support for UMKM to upgrade.
Shopee Indonesia's Head of Corporate Affairs, Satrya Pinandita, emphasized the importance of promotion and public learning through attractive shows so that the quality of products and UMKM players are increasingly recognized. He hopes that other entrepreneurs can take lessons from the challenges in each episode.
"UMKM are an important pillar of the Indonesian economy, so it is important to continue to provide support for their development so that they can advance," said Satrya.
The judges are Host & Entrepreneur Daniel Mananta and Founder & CMO of BLP Beauty, Lizzie Parra. In addition, each episode features different guest judges and mentors from among entrepreneurs, content creators, and e-commerce practitioners.
According to Lizzie, the event opened up face-to-face meetings with dozens of dedicated UMKM entrepreneurs and offered a wealth of practical knowledge.
"I hope more people will appreciate and be proud to buy UMKM products after watching this event," said Lizzie.
The Shopee Jagoan UMKM Naik Kelas program airs starting October 5, 2025 every Sunday at 19.00 WIB on YouTube Shopee Indonesia. Viewers can also take part in the "Jagoan UMKMQuiz" every Monday at 11.30 WIB until Wednesday at 23.59 WIB for a chance to win an iPhone 16 and millions of vouchers.
Support for the favorite participants is available through voting on the program's dedicated page. This series complements Shopee's other initiatives such as the New UMKM Success Program, Shopee UMKM Campus Online Class, and Shopee Flexi Export Program.
Digitalization and Funding
Economic researcher from the Center of Reform on Economics, Yusuf Rendy Manilet, believes that the contribution of UMKM to the Indonesian economy is very significant. Referring to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of UMKM in Indonesia in 2025 reached around 65.5 million units. This number contributed 61.9% to the national gross domestic product and absorbed more than 119 million workers.
"We can say that UMKM have so far relatively supported our economy," Yusuf said.
One of the things that Yusuf underlined regarding the development of UMKM is the digitalization aspect. After the pandemic, referring to World Bank data, 80% of UMKM that are already in the digital ecosystem have better resilience. In addition, the large use of the internet and smartphone owners in Indonesia is a niche market that can be taken by UMKM players.
BPS recorded that 72.78% of the Indonesian population accessed the internet in 2024 and 68.65% of the population used smartphones. "Not to mention if we talk about the shift in shopping patterns after the pandemic," Yusuf said.
Referring to Bank Indonesia data, the value of national e-commerce transactions in July 2025 reached IDR 44.4 trillion. That figure grew 6.41% on a monthly basis and 2.32% on an annual basis. Thus, Yusuf assessed that the coaching program carried out by Shopee will have a positive impact on UMKM players. "That's a good step. It's just a matter of how to replicate this kind of program on other platforms so that we can continue to encourage our UMKM to upgrade," he said.
In addition, Yusuf emphasized the importance of government support in providing market intelligence for UMKM. The government is considered to have the ability to map potential export markets while understanding regulatory barriers in each country. "If we want to encourage UMKM to enter the export market, the government must pay attention to this," he said.
Apart from the digitalization factor, another fundamental challenge that UMKM often face is funding. Yusuf believes that funding is crucial for UMKM if they want to expand their market share through exports. OJK recently issued POJK 19/2025 to facilitate access to UMKM financing, with the provisions coming into effect two months after September 2, 2025. In OJK's records, UMKM credit grew by 1.82% on an annual basis in July 2025.
