Medan, Indonesia – Delima, the sales representative for Indonesia’s fourth largest city, was crumbling the moment he returned home after spending a day on foot serving customers.
But recently, Delima, who works at a cosmetics store in one of Medan’s upscale malls, feels that she has “nothing to do.”
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“The mall is now very quiet and when customers enter the store they are not going to buy anything. They just use all the free testers, especially the perfumes, before leaving,” she told Al Jazeera.
The Delima experience reflects the latest buzzwords for cleaning Indonesia’s social media: “lohana” and “lohari.”
Portmante, Indonesians for “Rohana” and “Rojali”, “a group that just asks” and “a group that rarely buys” emerged as a popular internet slang term to explain the phenomenon of people who visit the mall purely to engage in window shopping.
It is difficult to put accurate figures on the shoppers in Indonesian windows, but there are indications that many Indonesians are finding that the rupiah is far ahead of the past and are fastening their belts.
PT Unillybin Indonesia, which produces everyday products ranging from ice cream to shampoos and toothpastes, saw sales decline by nearly 4.5% in the first half of 2025.
PT Matahari Department Store operates a chain of stores selling clothing, home appliances and beauty products, with a sharp drop of over 9%.
Tulus Abadi, chairman of the Indonesian Consumer Foundation, said the discussions between “Rohana” and “Rojali” reflect a real change in the situation that matters to people.
“Trades at shopping centres have dropped significantly, and sales of private cars and motorcycles have also declined,” he told Al Jazeera.
“This shows that middle-class consumers are experiencing a decline in purchasing power. But the economic driver is the middle-class.”
On paper, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is in its recent state. According to the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics, GDP, which increased by 5.12% from the previous year between April and June, has moved more than two years ahead of economists’ forecasts.
Still, economic dissatisfaction among Indonesians is not difficult to find, and it erupts most visible in the deadly protests that wiped out the archipelago in late August.
Thousands of Indonesians took them to the streets of cities across the country to protest budget cuts for education, public works and healthcare, and to the introduction of monthly housing allowances for lawmakers worth around $3,000.
A survey released in January by the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore found that young Indonesians expressed more pessimistic attitudes about the economy and government than their peers in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam.
According to the poll, an average of 75% of respondents expressed optimism about the government’s economic plans, while only about 58% of young Indonesians felt the same.
According to government statistics, about 16% of the over 44 million Indonesians aged 15-24 have lost their jobs.
Government officials have downplayed the proposal that Rohana and Rojali reflect the real situation.
Speaking at a press conference held in Jakarta last month, Minister of Economy, Minister of Economy, Erlanga Hartart said spending habits simply moved online and pointed to an increase in household consumption among other positive data.
“The stories around Lohari and Lohana are blown away in an uneven way,” Erlanga said.
Taegu Yud Wykakuno, a lecturer in economics at the University of Indonesia, said the official economic data painted a complex picture.
Household consumption rose nearly 5% in the second quarter, while retail sales weakened slightly, but remained higher than last year’s same period.
“So what can we conclude from this metric? There may actually be a weakening of purchasing power, but this could be happening in a particular segment,” he said.
Wicaksono said weakening purchasing power could be a playful thing, but consumers appear to be changing spending patterns.
“People are beginning to increase their spending related to sports, hobbies and entertainment, some of which are spent on services,” he said.
“This percentage of spending increases has almost doubled, which is happening mainly in the lower-middle class segment, and as a result, some of the spending in other groups has declined, especially for certain types of products.
Abadi of the Indonesian Consumer Foundation said the growing popularity of internet shopping has contributed to the trends of Rohana Rohari.
“The digital economy simply made the mall a way of window shopping,” he said.
In an online survey conducted earlier this year by Snapcart, a platform for analyzing consumer behavior based on customer receipts, half of Indonesian respondents said they view online shopping as more practical than visiting brick and mortar shopping centres.
According to the survey, Shopee was used by 90% of online shoppers, and was used by gifts from Tokopedia, Lazada and Alfa.
Dewi Fauna, an administrative assistant for clients overseas, said budget concerns and the convenience of e-commerce have begun to embody the phenomenon of Rohana and Rojali.
“I just go to the mall and eat at restaurants, I don’t buy anything mainly because of the price. There aren’t many options,” she told Al Jazeera.
“I don’t like looking around from one store to another just to find one item. It’s the same quality and sometimes it’s cheaper to shop online.”
Fauna said she frequently enjoys the mall due to the social aspects she can offer.
“I go with my friends and husband. For me, the purpose of going to the mall is because I enjoy myself, with friends, and chat with them as I eat,” Fauna said.
“We only eat once a week. We like to explore a variety of foods in restaurants, so we don’t mind spending money to make ourselves happy,” she added.
