The study, titled “The Influence of Ease of Use, Promotion, and Price on Consumers’ Purchase Intention in the Bukalapak Marketplace,” examined the behavior of Bukalapak users amid increasingly intense competition in Indonesia’s e-commerce industry. The findings showed that all three factors had a positive and significant effect on consumers’ purchase intention.
However, price emerged as the most influential factor.
Competition in Indonesia’s e-commerce sector has given consumers many choices when deciding where to shop. The ability to compare prices easily, access promotions, navigate applications, choose payment methods, and use digital features has become part of consumers’ decision-making process before making a purchase.
For Bukalapak, these issues are particularly relevant as competition among major marketplace platforms continues to intensify. The study also found indications that some users believe Bukalapak still needs to improve its user experience, promotional attractiveness, and price competitiveness.
A preliminary survey involving 31 Bukalapak users revealed a clear pattern. Twenty-nine respondents considered the Bukalapak application less convenient to use than competing platforms. The same number also found its promotions less attractive, while all 31 respondents in the preliminary survey considered Bukalapak’s prices less competitive than those offered by other marketplaces.
These conditions provided the basis for examining more closely the factors that could increase consumers’ willingness to shop on the platform.
Involving 190 Student Users of Bukalapak
Dimas Febriansyah and Lisnatiawati Saragih collected data from 190 undergraduate Management students at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Mercu Buana, Meruya, all of whom had used Bukalapak.
The respondents were selected based on specific criteria: they had to be active students and have experience using the platform. Data were collected through an online questionnaire using a rating scale to measure respondents’ perceptions of ease of use, promotion, price, and purchase intention.
The majority of respondents were female, accounting for 56.3 percent of the sample. Most respondents were between 21 and 23 years old, while 91.1 percent were full-time students who were not employed.
The data were then analyzed to determine the relationship between the three main factors and consumer purchase intention.
The results showed that the research model explained 69.4 percent of the variation in consumer purchase intention. This means that ease of use, promotion, and price together played a substantial role in shaping students’ willingness to make purchases through Bukalapak.
The remaining 30.6 percent of purchase intention was influenced by other factors not included in the study.
Price Has the Strongest Influence
The most significant finding concerned the effect of price on purchase intention. Price recorded the highest level of influence compared with the other two factors.
All three relationships were statistically significant.
These findings indicate that consumers, particularly university students, pay close attention to whether product prices are affordable and competitive. For consumer groups with limited budgets or a strong awareness of spending, price differences can become an important reason for choosing one marketplace over another.
Additional analysis also showed that price had the largest effect size on purchase intention. The highest-rated price indicator was related to consumers’ perception that prices did not place excessive pressure on their financial situation.
However, respondents’ perceptions of Bukalapak’s price competitiveness compared with other marketplaces remained relatively low. This finding suggests that affordability alone is not enough. Consumers also compare prices across competing platforms.
Ease of Use Remains Important
Ease of use ranked second among the factors influencing purchase intention.
Student users of Bukalapak gave high ratings to the clarity of the application’s usage instructions. This suggests that simple navigation and an easy-to-understand interface can increase consumers’ willingness to make transactions.
For digital businesses, the findings underline that user experience should not be treated as a secondary consideration. Applications that are easy to understand, provide fast product searches, display clear information, and offer simple payment processes can play an important role in maintaining consumer interest.
The authors recommend that Bukalapak continue improving its interface and ensuring a more consistent user experience. Improvements in product search and payment processes could also help create a more convenient online shopping experience.
Promotion Matters, but It Is Not the Strongest Factor
Promotion was also found to increase purchase intention, although its influence was lower than that of price and ease of use.
The findings show that promotional programs remain relevant to marketplace consumers. However, promotions need to be designed in ways that are more attractive and provide benefits that consumers can easily recognize.
In this study, the frequency of discounts was among the promotional indicators receiving relatively lower evaluations. The authors therefore recommend strengthening promotional appeal through strategies such as vouchers and free-shipping programs with more accessible minimum purchase requirements.
Promotions also need to be supported by competitive prices and a strong user experience. Attractive discounts may lose their impact if consumers still perceive the final price as uncompetitive or find the transaction process too complicated.
Implications for the E-Commerce Industry
The findings from Dimas Febriansyah and Lisnatiawati Saragih offer several important insights for marketplace operators in Indonesia.
First, price remains a key factor in digital competition, particularly among younger consumers. Marketplace platforms need to monitor competitors’ prices regularly and help sellers offer more competitive pricing.
Second, ease of use can influence consumer decisions before a transaction even takes place. A complicated digital experience may encourage users to switch to another platform.
Third, promotions must provide clear and tangible benefits for consumers. Vouchers, discounts, and free-shipping offers can strengthen purchase intention when they are designed around users’ actual needs.
The study also has limitations because it involved only Management students from Universitas Mercu Buana, Meruya. Its findings may therefore not fully represent all Bukalapak consumers in Indonesia.
Future research could involve a more diverse group of consumers and include additional factors such as trust, service quality, security, and brand image.
Author Profiles
Dimas Febriansyah is the lead author of the article and is affiliated with Universitas Mercu Buana. Information regarding his academic degree and specific area of expertise was not provided in the available article manuscript.
Lisnatiawati Saragih is the second author and is also affiliated with Universitas Mercu Buana. Detailed information regarding her academic degree and specific area of expertise was not fully stated in the manuscript.
Research Source
Febriansyah, D., & Saragih, L. (2026). The Influence of Ease of Use, Promotion, and Price on Consumers’ Purchase Intention in the Bukalapak Marketplace (A Case Study of Bukalapak Users Among Undergraduate Management Students at Mercu Buana University, Meruya). The article was accepted on 23 August 2026.
jurnal:Formosa Journal of Business and Economic Statistics (FJBES)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55927/fjbes.v2i4.677
URL:https://mtiformosapublisher.org/index.php/fjbes
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