Indonesia’s TikTok sellers do roaring trade in hijab, handbags

Al Jazeera :
Like many in his village, Inggit Pambudi and his wife Mudya Ayu earn a living making and selling headscarves.
The couple are part of the thousands of home industries in West Java’s district of Cicalengka, known as “Kampung Hijab”, or “Hijab Village”.
Cicalengka specialises in modest wear, a highly sought-after commodity in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
Most of Cicalengka’s production caters to brick-and-mortar wholesale markets across the Southeast Asian country but Pambudi and his wife count on a more modern marketing strategy. As TikTok user Hijab mudy mudy, the couple sell their products in livestreams on the popular video app 24 hours a day.
“We don’t even have any physical store,” Pambudi, 25, told Al Jazeera. “When I learned that I can livestream and sell my products on TikTok, I thought that it’s a good opportunity for us.”
TikTok is wildly popular in Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country with more than 275 million people. As of July, the Chinese social media platform reported 106.9 million adult users in Indonesia, making the country the app’s second-biggest market after the United States.
TikTok – initially launched as a music video platform-cum-social network – entered Indonesia in 2017. After authorities briefly banned the app over content deemed pornographic and blasphemous, it began storming the country’s lucrative e-commerce scene in 2021, following the launch of its livestreaming e-commerce function during Ramadan.
During the holy month, the app’s viewership peaks higher than usual as many Muslims stay awake into the early hours to eat their last meal of the day before fasting.
It was during Ramadan last year that TikTok reached out to Pambudi.