Bali- Online beauty shoppers are more likely to click “buy” when an app feels easy and enjoyable to use, not simply because it is useful. That is the central finding of a 2026 study by I Made Pradnyana Adi Putra and Gede Suparna from the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Udayana, Bali, Indonesia. Published in the East Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, the research examines why users of the Sociolla beauty platform hesitate to complete online purchases despite widespread digital adoption. The findings matter as Indonesia’s e-commerce sector grows rapidly while many platforms struggle to convert traffic into sales.
Why Popular Apps Do Not Always Convert to Sales
Indonesia is one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing digital markets, with millions of consumers using e-commerce platforms daily. Beauty products are among the most competitive categories, driven by young, tech-savvy consumers and aggressive digital marketing. Sociolla, founded in 2015, has become a well-known beauty retail platform offering cosmetics, skincare, reviews, and loyalty programs through an integrated online ecosystem.
Yet industry data show an interesting shift. While Sociolla’s overall revenue has increased, the proportion of sales coming from its online channel has declined in recent years. Many users browse the app, explore products, and read reviews, but ultimately choose to buy elsewhere or in physical stores. This gap between platform popularity and actual purchase behavior raised an important question: what truly motivates consumers to buy beauty products online?
Looking Beyond “Usefulness” in Digital Shopping
To answer that question, Putra and Suparna focused on consumer perceptions rather than technical features. Their analysis builds on widely used theories of technology adoption, which traditionally emphasize two factors: how useful a system feels and how easy it is to use. However, digital shopping today is no longer just about efficiency. For lifestyle products such as beauty items, emotional experience plays a growing role.
The researchers introduced “perceived enjoyment” as a key element. This refers to how pleasant, fun, or satisfying users feel when interacting with a digital platform, regardless of whether they complete a transaction.
How the Study Was Conducted
The research used a quantitative survey approach. Data were collected from 112 Sociolla users in Denpasar City and Badung Regency, two areas with high internet penetration and a strong presence of young consumers. All respondents had used Sociolla’s online platform but had not yet made a purchase through it.
Participants completed an online questionnaire measuring their perceptions of:
- Usefulness of the platform
- Ease of use
- Enjoyment while using the app
- Intention to make an online purchase
The responses were analyzed to identify which factors most strongly influenced purchase intention and how those factors interacted with one another.
Key Findings at a Glance
The results challenge some long-standing assumptions about online consumer behavior:
- Ease of use significantly increases online purchase intention Users are more likely to buy when the platform is simple, flexible, and intuitive.
- Perceived enjoyment plays a central role Feeling comfortable and entertained while using the app strongly encourages purchase intention.
- Perceived usefulness does not directly drive purchase intention Simply believing that the platform is functional or informative is not enough to trigger buying decisions.
- Enjoyment acts as a bridge Perceived usefulness and ease of use increase purchase intention only when they enhance the user’s sense of enjoyment.
In practical terms, consumers may acknowledge that an app is useful, but they are more likely to shop when the experience feels pleasant and engaging.
What This Means for Digital Businesses
The study highlights a shift in how consumers evaluate digital platforms, especially in lifestyle-driven markets like beauty. Basic functionality is now considered a minimum standard rather than a competitive advantage. What differentiates platforms is the quality of the user experience.
Putra and Suparna emphasize that digital interaction is no longer just transactional. For many users, browsing beauty products online is part of self-expression and leisure. Visual design, smooth navigation, personalization, and interactive features all contribute to emotional engagement.
As the authors note, users are more motivated to purchase when digital platforms combine functional value with emotional satisfaction, particularly among younger consumers who dominate online beauty shopping.
Implications for Industry, Policy, and Education
For e-commerce companies, the findings suggest that investment in user experience design is as important as product range or pricing. Features such as virtual try-ons, personalized recommendations, video reviews, and seamless payment flows can enhance enjoyment and reduce hesitation.
For digital entrepreneurs and startups, the research offers a reminder that innovation should focus on how users feel, not only on what an app can do.
For policymakers and educators, the study provides insight into evolving digital consumption patterns. Understanding the emotional side of technology use can inform digital literacy programs, support creative industries, and guide policies that encourage user-centered digital innovation.
Author Perspective
According to I Made Pradnyana Adi Putra from Universitas Udayana, consumer behavior in digital environments is increasingly shaped by experience rather than efficiency alone. Together with Gede Suparna, he underscores that emotional engagement is not an optional add-on but a core driver of online purchase decisions in modern e-commerce platforms.
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