TIKTOK SOCIAL MEDIA AS A MEANS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS PROMOTION

 

Hasim� , Lina Sherlina�

Universitas Kebangsaan Republik Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia

[email protected], [email protected]

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Received:

01-01-2022

The clothing industry is a business that has a very fast development. Now the clothing industry has begun to be divided specifically, one of which is the clothing industry plus size. The current Covid-19 pandemic has an impact on micro, small and medium enterprises so that many businesses suffer losses. There are restrictions on community activities during the pandemic, digital platforms can be an alternative so that they can continue to carry out business activities. Efforts to increase the income of micro, small and medium enterprises need to promote online, one of which is using Tiktok social media. The focus of this research is on the promotion strategy of micro, small and medium plus size clothing businesses to increase sales during the Covid-19 pandemic by utilizing Tiktok social media. The purpose of this study was to find out the promotional strategies through Tiktok social media used by plus size clothing businessmen during the pandemic, what support platforms were used to maximize promotional results, the differences in promotional strategies and the obstacles experienced before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. 19. This study uses a qualitative constructivism method with data collection techniques through in-depth interviews, observations, and document studies. The results of this study suggest that micro, small, and medium-sized plus size clothing businesses can survive and increase their sales during the Covid-19 pandemic by providing a variety of contemporary clothing that is needed by consumers. Using Tiktok for promotions such as creating content and endorsing the right influencers. Using the Instagram support platform as a place for online product catalogs, Shopee to buy products, and Whatsapp as customer service. Promotions and endorsements on the Tiktok application are effective for increasing sales of plussize clothing during the Covid-16 pandemic.

Accepted:

14-01-2022

Published:

20-01-2022

Keywords:

tiktok social media, means, promotion

Corresponding Author: Hasim

E-mail: [email protected]

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INTRODUCTION

Phenomenon of using tiktok social media as a means of product promotion is currently very interesting, because previously social media was more widely used as a means of entertainment among artists and society in general and was dominated by teenagers, this phenomenon can be seen in screenshots of tiktok social media. Tiktok social media is widely observed by business people to promote their products, it can be seen from its effectiveness, promotional costs, reach and others. The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world, including Indonesia, has more or less affected the order of people's lives, businesses that were initially carried out face-to-face are now all directed online or online, thus the business community needs to adjust and follow this pattern. Digital media continues to develop and is especially affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pace of development is becoming faster. (Daryanto, 2011), promotion strategy is a plan to achieve the desired target of a business unit, in order to attract the attention of consumers to make purchasing decisions for products offered by the company, usually promotion is a one-way communication carried out by companies that aims to influence consumers to buy products. interested in buying the company's products.

Micro, small, and medium business entrepreneurs during the current covid-19 pandemic are making many breakthroughs to touch their potential customers or to maintain loyal consumers, online media at this time can be used as an alternative and can even be developed deeper into functions and functions. its use in the field of promotion. According to data from the ministry of communication and informatics, which the authors quote from www.cnnindonesia.com on January 6, 2021 that online activities increased by 400% during the pandemic. This significant increase in online activity can be utilized by micro, small and medium enterprises to promote their products so that they are easily known by the wider community.

Based on data from a survey submitted by Sathirathai, Group chief economist, a global internet company headquartered in Singapore. www.cnbcindonesia.com on January 6, 2021, the use of online platforms in June 2020 was carried out on 68,574 ASEAN youth respondents and 20,397 of them came from Indonesia. Nearly seventy thousand young people aged 16 � 35 took the survey, 87% of whom said they increased their use of at least one digital medium during the pandemic. Popular applications are social media, online education, online shopping, and online meetings. In particular, young Indonesians and Singaporeans 50% of them increase their e-commerce purchases. This data can see a complete picture of the rapid increase in the use of online media, and should be utilized properly by business people in Indonesia.

Micro, small, and medium enterprises who use Tiktok social media are entrepreneurs who produce plus-size clothing. A woman with a large body tends to find it difficult to find suitable clothes, especially if you are looking for a plus size clothing size directly, it will be difficult to find it, besides that the clothing models are also quite an important consideration. Seeing this, micro, small and medium enterprises that produce plus size clothing can capture promising business opportunities. The clothing promotion strategy by sharing experiences for people who are plus size or large through social media, TikTok, can reach all people, ages, and can reach all places in Indonesia and even abroad. Based on data from apptopia the author quoted from www.kompas.com on January 6, 2021, social media tiktok became the most downloaded application in 2020, reaching 850 million times, besides that this media was also in the first position in the category of highest grossing app version of apptopia, beating tinder, youtube, disney plus and others.

The COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world and entered Indonesia began with the first positive case on March 2, 2020, gradually this pandemic changed all forms of activity, including business. Economic activity continues to slow down in line with the outbreak of COVID-19 cases and coupled with restrictions on community activities set by the government to prevent the spread of the virus. Micro, small and medium enterprises are one of the pillars of the Indonesian economy from this economic downturn. (Primiana, 2009) explained that micro, small and medium enterprises are the development of the four main economic activities that drive development, including agribusiness, manufacturing industry, human resources, and marine business.

This research is devoted to micro, small and medium enterprises engaged in the sale of large-sized clothing, one of the reasons is because plus size clothing is becoming a trend at this time. The increase in the number of influencers who have large bodies, apart from increasing the number of sales of large-sized clothes, has also begun to shift the standard of beauty in the eyes of the public, and also brings fresh air for owners of large bodies to increase their self-confidence. Thus the author has enough reasons to conduct research on social media tiktok as a means of promoting micro, small, and medium enterprises engaged in the sale of plus size clothing. The purposes of this study include seeing a picture of plus size clothing business actors promoting through Tiktok social media, increasing sales, and to see promotional strategies before and during the covid-19 pandemic.

Research on the Effect of Social Media on the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) From the results of previous research by Moch Hari Purwidiantoro, Dany Fajar Kristanto SW, and Widiyanto Hadi with the title The Effect of Social Media on Small and Medium Enterprises (UKM) Development, published by AMIK Citra Darma Surakarta in 2016, this research was motivated by the rapid development of information technology, one example of which is social media that can be used as a medium for promoting a product or service, in contrast to the research that the author did which had a novelty that had not previously been discussed in the study. Researchers focused on promotional strategies carried out by micro, small and medium business entrepreneurs for business development and increasing sales during the Covid-19 pandemic, where many habits were different from before this pandemic.

The research written by (Arianto, 2020) with the title Digital MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT During the Covid-19 Pandemic, which was published by the Research Center for Forensic Accounting in 2020, has the same background, which is related to the covid-19 pandemic, but research that the author focuses on the use of tiktok social media to promote products, thus this research has an element of novelty. The reason the author chose to focus on digital promotion in this application is because based on the results of a survey that has been published in several media, the social media application Tiktok is one of the most popular applications and has an increasing number of downloads and active users every day since the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

METHODS

This research was designed qualitatively with a constructivist approach paradigm. Qualitative research method is a research method that focuses on interpreting the meaning of an event and is studied in depth, trying to explain in detail about the phenomenon or object under study. (www.academia.edu, 20 January 2021). The results of qualitative research are usually more about elaboration and development whose data are not numbers or something definite. The research conducted by the author relating to social media tiktok as a means of promoting micro, small and medium enterprises does not prove or test a theory, but rather describes a new phenomenon of social media tiktok in Indonesian society which is then used by micro, small and medium enterprises. for promotion with various strategies. The research data was extracted by dividing it into two parts, namely: promotional content on the Tiktok application, and micro, small and medium business actors plus size clothing using the Tiktok application as many as 5 (five) online shops with the criteria of using the Tiktok social media application as a means of promotion, has an active tiktok social media account, has a minimum of a thousand followers, and has the distinctive character of the clothing models being sold. Digging information for this research the author did through interviews, observations, document studies, all of these activities were carried out by complying with health protocols during the covid-19 pandemic. Observation is a complex process, a process composed of various biological and psychological processes. Two of the most important are the processes of observation and memory (Sugiyono, 2013).

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Overview of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Field of Plus Size Clothing Production

Micro, small and medium enterprises engaged in the sale ofclothing plus size continue to innovating to produce plus size clothes according to market demand, self-love campaigns that are deliberately created by certain communities or even private companies and campaigned by celebrities, influencers, and other public figures will continue to encourage trends positive. This campaign has many classifications ranging from loving your own differences in terms of skin color, hair shape, body size shape. In this case, the self-love campaign is part of loving and accepting a body shape that can be said to be plus size, encouraging micro, small and medium enterprises to develop large-sized clothing both at home and abroad. According to a worldwide market research and counseling firm Credence Research, it is estimated that the clothing market plus size will continue to grow from 2021 to 2027, https://www.credenceresearch.com, 06 May 2021.

This buying and selling process is carried out online either using a website or e-commerce so that it can reach a wider market. The Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the world today has made a lot of people work at home to support more people who use smartphones for various types of transactions, one of which is shopping. Because now people are using more gadgets, of course, they can see promotional content more often on social media. This is one of the positives of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is proven by the information since 2020 from the Ministry of Communication and Information (KEMENKOMINFO) conveyed by the Director General of Post and Information Technology (PPI) Ahmad M Ramli that online shopping activities increased by 400% during the Covid-19 pandemic in a meeting with the Tourism Recovery Committee at the Commission. X DPR on Tuesday 7 July 2020. (www.cnnindonesia.com , 06 January 2021 at 00.08 WIB).

(Rulli, 2016) explains that social media is a medium part of the internet that provides facilities for users to present themselves, interact, collaborate, communicate and even share with other social media users, and can also form virtual social bonds. Seeing from this understanding, of course, social media looks very capable of helping micro, small and medium businesses in terms of being a place to promote their products.

This research was conducted on 5 online stores that sell clothing plus size and use Tiktok social media as a promotional medium, namely:

1)      Attractive is one of the clothing stores plus size that was founded in August 2019. This store was created from the owner's personal anxiety who had difficulty finding large-sized clothes at affordable prices. In the early days of its establishment, the main focus of this store was only on the quality of the products, not concerned with the appearance or image of the store. It made the development of this shop quite slow.

Based on the results of interviews and observations with Clarissa, the owner of attractive on March 18, 2021, it was explained how the business started: Officially with the name Attractive since August 2019, it arose from my personal problem that as a plus size it was difficult to find clothes. Even if there is, usually the price is very expensive even though it is only for basic outfits (eg blazer). The development is calculated slowly, because initially we did not do at all endorsement. Take your own photos with your cellphone camera and the help of a mirror. We focus on developing product quality first, only this year we started doing endorsements. Attractive wants consumers to remember as a store that provides their needs from basic outfits to contemporary ones. Our metabolism is indeed different from those who are easily "slim", but we can still look fashionable. Confidence is important, what kind of ideal body you want can be achieved if you love yourself. There is no special inspiration in making and releasing a product, more on outfits that I personally want to wear or find funny. For sales themselves, I can't say that they are 100% stable at this time because we are still recovering from the pandemic, we experienced a 50% decrease in sales. This pandemic really has a negative effect on our store, but we are still trying to survive by using Tiktok as our promotional medium. We created a new Tiktok social media during the pandemic. To protect consumers, we always put quality first. If there is bad feedback , we will usually recall the product and check and revise it.

2)      Moysstyle is one of the online clothing stores plus size that was established during the Covid-19 pandemic, namely August 2020. The owner of this shop is a influencer Tiktok with the username @alviioo and has 348,100 followers, and 12,300 followers on his Instagram account with the username @alvioeka. This data was taken on August 9, 2021.

Since its inception, Moysstyle was introduced through the owner's social media accounts. The types of clothes that are sold are clothes for those who do not wear the hijab and are quite revealing. Some of its products are dresses, skirts, short tops (croptop).The type of clothing that this shop sells is typical of Korean-style feminine clothing with size variations from M to XXXXL according to Moysstyle's own version. The image built by this store is quite successful among Tiktok users. Usually, if someone is looking for feminine, cute, contemporary and Korean-style clothes with large sizes, many people will recommend Moysstyle. The inspiration in making this product itself, the owner saw a lot of references from clothes sold in Bangkok and Thailand. Of every product that Moysstyle releases, the owner always tries to create products that keep up with the latest trends but are still comfortable and flexible when used by owners of large bodies. That's one reason why this shop more often release products skirt or dress.Since its inception until 2021, Moysstyle has implemented asystem pre-order for all its products, so the products owned by this store are not always available or ready every day.

Based on the results of an interview with Alvio, the owner of Moysstyle on March 14, 2021, it was stated that this business was originally started; Moysstyle was founded in August 2020 and is consistent in selling and following trends. Because moysstyle stores are fashion very necessary to keep up with the times in order to be able to compete with other stores. We introduced ourselves starting with my personal branding as the owner. So people know me just Moysstyle. And start doing endorsements to other people. The image that we are trying to form is as a clothing store plus size with Korean clothing styles. This image has been successfully formed because people who want to buy Korean-style dresses will definitely suggest Moysstyle. Our clothing is more in the direction of dresses, skirts, tops Korean style and feminine. We provide clothing ranging from sizes M-XXXXXL. Every time she takes out a product, her chest is intentionally exposed because I think that women plus size who wear clothes with an open neck look more level and slim. From every dress made, I want the plus size to still look fashionable and contemporary but free to move and comfortable when used, therefore the type of product that Moysstyle produces is a lot of skirts and dresses. Many of Moysstyle's products are inspired by clothes from online shops in Bangkok and Thailand because there are many markets plus size. Then usually changed in terms of materials and motifs in accordance with the needs and tastes of Indonesia. Besides that, other inspiration came from clothes normal size and aversion was made plus size . In terms of sales, we have been stable from the beginning until now because of the help of my own personal branding as the owner of Moysstyle. We are standing during a pandemic, so there are actually more positive effects than negatives with this pandemic. With so many people using and making outfits of the day contemporary (OOTD) at home to create Tiktok content, so many buy because they want to do the same. So far, the obstacle is competition with other online stores because more and more are selling clothes plus size, and also more and more people are selling products like Moysstyle. Production is still using a system pre-order so stock is limited and there are not always daily orders. For social media we use Tiktok, Instagram and shopee for sales. The difference is the catalog and the latest information on Instagram, and the interaction with consumers. Tiktok for promotion, reach more people and target market. You can order via shopee and whatsapp. Whatsapp is also used as a customer service. From what I've tried, TikTok is the most effective way to promote because it can reach more people and be wider. The most important thing to pay attention to is the authenticity of the product according to the description and the quality of the product is good and then fits plus size friendly. With the quality and authenticity of the product, it indirectly keeps consumers awake and even always buys every new product.

3)      This Omah Muslim shop was founded on January 6, 2015, starting from the owner who had free time because he had just finished his undergraduate graduation. Departing from the ideals of the owner of Omah Muslim who wants to be an entrepreneur and not work in someone else's office so that after marriage they can work from home while taking care of their children and husband. When it was first established, this shop sold 1 set of robes with headscarves. However, it turns out that in the market, only headscarves are sold, and finally they have started to focus on selling their own production headscarves and taking some products from convection. Apart from being online, Omah Muslim previously sold offline on car free days. From there, they began to sell various large-sized products.

With little capital, Yayah as the owner of this shop does not dare to do paid promotions such as endorsements. So so far, consumers have come from the closest environment only. Since 2015, the owner of a Muslim house has always convinced potential buyers that the products he sells are of better quality than market products. From the beginning, Omah Muslim's goal was to be known as a clothing store that has products with good quality but low prices and friendly sellers. From its own type of clothing, Omah Muslim produces friendly everyday clothes for owners of large bodies and hijab users. The presence of Omah Muslim seeks to convey to the public that all people who have large bodies have the right to be confident with clothes that are appropriate for them, so that they can exude confidence that is more the same as normal body owners. So Omah Muslim always follows the development of clothing that is currently popular and then observes, imitates and modifies so that it is comfortable to be used by owners of large bodies. because Sulis as the owner of Omah Muslim has a big body, he always tries to bring out clothes that are really comfortable to wear, including by himself.

The results of the interview with Yayah, the owner of Omah Muslim on March 2, 2021, and the results of field observations; Omah Muslim was founded on January 6, 2015 because I just finished graduation and have a lot of free time. At the beginning we sold Muslim clothing sets with headscarves and we sold them in the market. From the sales of my products, it turns out that the hoods are more in demand by people. From that moment on we started selling headscarves and it was quite crowded in the market because at that time we used good quality materials, different from the veils that are usually sold in the market. I made the product myself. We always take care of consumers by being friendly to all buyers so that we are known as a solutive and friendly shop. We also always try to provide goods with good quality and reasonable prices. Over time we started selling clothes in big sizes because I have a big body. We always apply Observe Copy Modification (ATM) for each of our products and keep up with the times. We use Tiktok as a promotional medium, Instagram as an online catalog of our products and also whatsapp to receive complaints and complaints from consumers. As a support to simplify the buying and selling process, we also use the Shopee application. So far, our online store's income has greatly increased since the pandemic, but offline income is very minimal. If you can get 2 million in 1 month, it's very good for us, Sis. Because our offline revenue before the pandemic was around 25 million and now it's only an average of 2 million. Meanwhile, our online store income before the pandemic was the opposite, which was 3 million later after the pandemic, 90 million. This pandemic is quite an obstacle for us because of limited mobility offline, we are a little difficult to take product photos too and we can't sell in the offline market. But in terms of online, thank God, our shop has improved a lot. In our opinion, the most effective self-promotion is using Tiktok because the sales increase immediately.

4)      At the beginning of the journey of this Mouu shop, there were so many obstacles to keep it running. In 2019 Mouu was an online shop that sells skincare, but after running for a while Maudi as the owner found it difficult and could not convince consumers to buy products skincare his, because so many potential consumers became victims of kw and fake products. Finally Maudi stopped selling until January 2020 started downloading Tiktok social media and saw a lot of content recommendingclothes plus size. That's where Maudi as the owner of Mouu began to think about running his online shop which had been inactive for a long time. This certainly did not go smoothly because too many times he failed when running a business and his parents were finally opposed to selling again. Finally Maudi decided to sell clothes plus size with asystem pre-order, and now unexpectedly, sales are starting to stabilize.

The products sold so far are mostly soft denim and indeed this type of clothing is in great demand. Plus the price offered is relatively cheap compared to other shops, making this Mouu attractive to many people. Of the 5 online shops that are the subject of this research, Mouu is the shop with the cheapest product price, which is under Rp. 130,000.

Results of an interview with Maudi, the owner of Mouu on 04 March 2021; Mouu.shop was founded in January 2020 and I tried to download Tiktok, immediately thought of selling clothes plus size. I started doing the endorsement to account Tiktok @restinighina to capitalize savings. At that time I was selling with the Pre-Order system, I didn't have any items in stock because I was traumatized by the previous failed business. The results of the endorsement first immediately received many orders and became the starting point for Mouu to be known. I want to be an honest and friendly seller, because a lot of consumers complain to me "I usually buy online when it's not the same as the product description and so it can't be used". Mouu sells a lot of clothes made of fine denim. I want plus size people not to be insecure about their body shape. I also want them to know that having a body plus size can also be fashionable like other standard-bodied women of course with clothes that are not too expensive. Mouu sales go live in February 2021. Tiktok really has a tremendous effect on Mouu sales. To maintain consumers, I prefer to share shopeepay because it is a form of my gratitude because they have supported Mouu all this time. In addition, because I think that many have been affected by this pandemic and I hope that my gift can be of use to them. There are no significant obstacles for Mouu because indeed we have been established since the pandemic and immediately stabilized. For social media we use Tiktok and Instagram. In terms of activity, it's not optimal, but I often do endorsements on Tiktik. I think Tiktok and Instagram have the same function, but now Tiktok is more interesting because many people are moving to Tiktok and also because it is able to expand while Instagram is very limited. It doesn't take long to use Tiktok because I think Tiktok is easy to understand. We also always provide friendly service. And product quality is in accordance with marketed prices to protect consumers.

5)      The Color in fash store was founded in 2014 between October or November. This shop is the oldest store to stand out compared to the other 4 shops that exist as research subjects. When this shop was first established, it started selling by using only social media Twitter. Since the beginning, there was no special promotion strategy, only that Color in fash took advantage of the opportunity as a store that was different from other stores, namely issuing products that could be customized from sizes to clothing models. At that time, it was still very rare for shops to facilitate custom sizes and models, this brought Color in fash to have many customers and be known by many people. Some of the initial products of this shop were shirts, blouses, midi dresses, and tunics. In 2019 Color in fash's Instagram account reached 100,000 followers but got hacked, and this caused colour in fash to lose subscribers and have to start all over again.

Since then, this store no longer focuses on selling clothes that can be custom/requested. Because of this incident, sales have declined. Finally, Color in fash started to make products that are being sought after in the market with a system ready stock, and until now sales have started to stabilize and orders have been busy. No specific inspiration was conveyed, however, all of Color in fash's products are the result of the shop owner's thought and market research. With good market research skills, finally the products that are issued always sell well in the market. Similar to other shops, the owner of Color in fash also has a body plus size. Now Color in fash has 92,200 followers on Instagram account with username @colourinfash. The types of products that he sells are mostly shirts, tunics, robes or dresses, both plain and patterned.

 Results of an interview with the owner of Color in fash on March 11, 2021; We have been established since 2014 around October or November. When we opened, we only sold via Twitter. And from the first actually there is no special trick sis, it's just our first product specifically shirt, tunic and midi dress plain/motif and can be custom models even custom size, can custom sizes from XS-XXXXL. At that time, we knew that shops that could request sizes up to a chest circumference of 140-150cm were still very rare, so many customers always bought our products back. However, now we are not too focused on custom / request size products. Because around September / October 2019 Instagram colour in fash with more than 100k followers was hacked and couldn't go back, from there we started again from scratch. From there we started to make made products ready-. Currently, there are many fashion products in Indonesia that sell products, plus size so we also try to convey that in every product we issue. Most of our products are still shirts. The inspiration for the current product is still myself, every time I will release a new product, of course I do a market analysis, so that when launching the target is always right on target. In terms of income since the pandemic, sales have gone up and down but there are still orders every day. But we are always consistent in doing promotions and endorsements. Usually we use application ads, and endorsements only. But still not too much success because there are still feedback insignificant. The obstacle is usually the stock that builds up because sales decline during the pandemic. We think that the majority of people are saving money in this condition and are hesitant and then don't dare to release many new models, and reduce the existing stock. We also do stock reduction for example usually 100 pcs now 50 pcs. Currently we are intensively endorsement using Tiktok, and the results are quite significant even though it has not stabilized again."

 

How Micro, Small and Medium Enter Prises Clothing Plus Size Promotes on Tiktok Social Media During the Covid-19The Covid-19

Pandemic makes us have to limit our space and avoid crowds, making us more and more use digital tools to support and fulfill our needs daily. Starting from buying food, going to school, working, to shopping. Along with the development of technology, new applications began to emerge, one of which was Tiktok social media that could be used by micro, small and medium business actors clothing plus size to increase sales and reach more target markets.

Mach foed 2010 explained that sales promotion includes various promotional tools that designed to motivate an early market response. Sales promotions can be in the form of consumer promotions, such as product samples, coupons, discounts and so on. Trade promotions such as free products, reduced purchase prices, and so on. In 2021 Attractive stores will start actively using the Tiktok application. Although it is fairly new to using Tiktok, this store is quite famous with 20,000 followers on a Tiktok account with the username @atractiv.id as of May 2021. Since the beginning of using the Tiktok application, Atractive has started to create its own content and do several endorsements to almost all content creators or plus size influencers on Tiktok whether they use the hijab or not. Of all the shops that were the subject of this study, Attractive is the store with the most followers on Tiktok. Of all the social media owned by this store, the most active and often used as promotional media now are Instagram and Tiktok. Clarissa, owner of Atractiv, said �Instagram, tiktok, facebook. Right now it's more on IG and TikTok because the target audience is mostly on these 2 social media.�

(Purwanto, 2011) explained that in communicating there are 2 forms of communication, namely verbal and non-verbal, including business communication. "Business communication is communication in the business world that includes various forms of communication, both verbal and nonverbal communication to achieve goals. In line with the quote, this micro, small and medium business actor needs to use various ways to communicate product information to consumers through various communication channels. From the various contents on the Tiktok @atractiv.id account, it provides various solutions for owners of large bodies. The products that this store sells include products basic and are needed for daily activities. Some examples are brocades to go to events or invitations, sports clothes where owners of large bodies usually find it difficult to find sports clothes that are comfortable and suitable even made especially for owners of large bodies, anti-wrinkle shirts that can be a solution for owners of large bodies. This shirt can be in great demand because for owners of large bodies, the clothes they use are usually easily wrinkled because they are squeezed by body parts or folded when sitting and other activities. The last is a plain jacket/blazer which is usually used for formal events.

Since its inception, Alvio as the owner of Moysstyle has immediately used Tiktok as a promotional medium with the username @moysstyle. As a store that was born during the Covid-19 pandemic, Moysstyle is one of the stores that is able to expand its business during the pandemic. You can say that Moysstyle has developed quite well since its inception because the owner is one of the influencers Tiktok who often creates content aboutbodies and clothes plus size. Enough with the personal branding of the owner, this store was able to grow without much help from other promotions. So the majority of this store's products are promoted by Alvio as the owner, on his personal Tiktok account with the username @alviioo. Wasesa described in (Winduwati & Oktavianti, 2019) personal branding is a process when people use themselves as a brand. Personal branding is how we market ourselves to others. In business management, personal branding can be built from people, names, signs, symbols, or designs that can be used as a differentiator (Rampersad, 2008).

Looking at the content from the Tiktok accounts @moysstyle and @alviioo, in terms of the audience is quite large and consistent, with the facts This can make Moysstyle sales stable and even increase. Moysstyle has been actively selling since August 16, 2020 using Shopee. In just 3 months, the increase in Moysstyle's turnover was more than 100% compared to sales in the first 1 month. Moysstyle has made several endorsements to influencers other Tiktok. The results of the endorsement only give an effect of about 2-3x, the rest when doing an endorsement it doesn't really affect or increase the number of sales. According to Shimp in (Soesatyo, 2013) endorsers are ad supporters or also known as advertising stars who support advertised products, the use of sources as attention-grabbing figures in advertisements is one creative way to convey messages.

Omah Muslim started using the Tiktok application because she saw an opportunity from large-size clothing content that appeared on her for your page. At the beginning Omah Muslim tried to do an endorsement for Rp. 50,000, and from endorsement that Omah Muslim got orders for about 100 packages. Since then, Omah Muslin has routinely endorsed. This store only does promotions through the Tiktok application, according to him, endorsements Tiktok are cheap but the effect on sales is extremely high. If you look at the Tiktok Omah Muslim account with the username @omah_muslim, it is not as busy as the previous 2 stores, Atractiv and Moysstyle. But in terms of income increased dramatically for online sales. But offline, Omah Muslim's income has decreased significantly. Omah Muslim has actually become one of the shops that experienced an increase in the amount of income by more than 100% during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mouu stores started using Tiktok as a media campaign since February 2021 and regularly endorsement to one influencer Tiktok berhijab with username @ghinarestini. Of the many influencers that was endorsed, Ghina Restini this is deemed most suitable and give a lot of feedback in terms of sales growth is remarkable. One endorsement can generate more than 99 orders on shopee. Finally, every new product always do endorsement by Ghina Restini. Besides Ghina Restini store is also routinely endorsement on the plus size influencers. Other

The mouu shop is still taking goods from suppliers and has not yet started its own production, the products from this shop are made of soft denim. Another attraction is the products with very cheap prices, which are no more than Rp. 130,000, even the majority of the products are below Rp. 100,000. Dropshipping products or not producing their own but setting low prices can bring Mouu to a stable income and an increase in the amount of his income that exceeds 100% during this pandemic. The following is a comparison of Mouu's income for the first month sellingclothes plus size with his income after a few months.

The colourinfash store joined Tiktok in 2021, and began to endorse several influencers who matched the store's criteria. In choosing talent endorsers, Colorinfash tends to be more selective, in order to get maximum results. This shop is classified as a micro-enterprise with a maximum income of IDR 50,000,000. sales of this store were practically stable before the pandemic. This is because the majority of the products they sell are plain or patterned shirts, and usually the majority of people prefer to wear shirts over other tops. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic, sales have become unstable so they go up and down every month. Even so, Colorinfash continues to consistently carry out promotions, either creating their own content or doing plus size endorsements and normal size. From the various contents displayed on the Tiktok account with the user @colourinfash, it is not clearly illustrated what is conveyed through the various contents. But what they always display is more product information and reupload thevideo endorsement to their account.

 

Micro, Small, and Medium EnterprisesClothing Plus size Increase Sales From Promotions on Tiktok Social Media

Promotions carried out by micro, small, and medium plus size businesses on the Tiktok application must of course be accompanied by the use of buying and selling facilities. Tiktok has released a feature, namely Tiktok Shop. Tiktok shop is a feature that was recently released by Tiktok to make it easier for people to buy products that are being promoted. In addition, this Tiktok shop also offers low product prices and low shipping costs, so many Tiktok users like to shop at the Tiktok shop. With this Tiktok shop, the buying and selling process can also take place during live streaming. Quoted from (https://www.kompas.com, 18 May 2021).

Attractiv stores choose to use the Tiktok shop feature, to make it easier for tiktok users to buy the products they sell. So that when endorsing celebrities and influencers on Tiktok, they can be directly directed to their Tiktok shop. In addition, this store also continues to use Instagram as an online catalog of their products. In fact, there are more followers of this store on social media Instagram with the username @atractiv.id, which is 78,100 followers. Attractive also already has its own website to support the sales of their products so that they can appear directly on the Instagram Store. Influencer is a person or figure on social media who has a large number of followers and what they say can affect the attitude of their followers, (Hariyanti & Wirapraja, 2018).

Other supporting platforms used by Atractiv are whatsapp and e-commerce. It is undeniable that some Indonesians still don't understand how the e-commerce shopping system works, so Attractiv's choice of providing WhatsApp as a consumer service or direct purchase is the right one. Attractiv uses 2 e-commerce sites, namely Tokopedia and Shopee. Based on the survey results, during this pandemic, Tokopedia was one of the e-commerce sites with the highest number of active users in Indonesia.  aDuringperiod of 2021, Tokopedia lead with a traffic share of 32.04 percent, with the number of visits 129.1 million. The portion of visits via mobile dominates at 62.7 percent, while from desktop 37.3 percent. Average visit duration 6 minutes 37 seconds. Quoted from (https://www. cnnindonesia.com, 08 May 2021).

Shopee is anplatform e-commerce that ranks 2 after Tokopedia with the highest number of users and visitors in Indonesia, with a traffic share of 29.78 percent and monthly visits of 120 million. Shopee itself is most accessed via mobile 72.4 percent and desktop 21.3 percent, with an average visit duration of 6 minutes 30 seconds. Quoted from (https://www. cnnindonesia.com, 08 May 2021). Attractiv store at Shopee Indonesia is quite popular, has 41,500 followers and has become a tolo with thelabel Star Seller Plus, with the best-selling products, namely white shirts, span skirts, black blazers, and plain shirts.

The Moysstyle store has not taken advantage of the Tiktok Shop feature provided by Tiktok, this is none other than because its products are sold with asystem pre-order. Some of the platforms used by Moysstyle are Instagram, WhatsApp, and Shopee. This store uses Instagram to provide updated information, especiallyschedules pre-order product, as well as product catalogs. In terms of the catalog, it can be said that Moysstyle is not so concerned with the results. Because there are still many products whose photos mirror theselfie owner's. For buying and selling places, Moysstyle uses the Whatsapp and Shopee applications. More consumers of this store buy their products directly via whatsapp. The Moysstyle store in the Shopee application itself has quite a number of followers, namely 21,900 accounts. With some of the most popular products this month is their newest product. Because the shopee system shows the number of sales per month and many consumers who shop via whatsapp make the Shopee sales figures look small. Digital is one of the most frequently described new media, which can be manipulated by being networked, dense, interactive, and impartial. New media are formed through human interaction with computer networks such as smartphones and of course internet networks, including social media (Puspita, 2015).

With a sales system that is still pre-ordered, the use of platforms otheris considered sufficient. Because so far, every time I open a product PO, there are always more or less 200 pcs. Another thing that makes this shop still uses the PO system is the availability of the ingredients that it uses, so it's still not mass-produced. Alvio as the owner always attaches great importance to the quality of materials and good service to protect and care for his customers.

The platforms that are actively used by Muslim Omah besides Tiktok are Whatsapp, Instagram and Shopee. In accordance with the image that the owner tried to build from the start, this store uses WhatsApp as a consumer service and media to order products. It's different with Tiktok, just like others, Omah Muslim uses her Instagram account as a product catalog because she doesn't actively carry out various promotions through Instagram. However, as a digital catalog, the appearance of the Omah Muslim Instagram store is quite neat, attractive and good. The Omah Muslim store at Shopee is already quite famous and is one of the Star Seller Plus stores which is a sign that the store is trusted.

This Mouu maximizes Instagram, Shopee and Whatsapp as platforms to support various promotional content to simplify the sales process. The Mouu shop on Instagram is still relatively quiet and doesn't have many followers, because in terms of the appearance of the store and as a virtual catalog it is still very simple and there are not many posts. Mouu is present on Instagram with the username @mouu.shop with 3,062 followers. Seeing the advantages of the products owned by this store, namely the price is relatively cheap and provides a variety of pants and jackets made of fine denim, this shop is in great demand by consumers. Coupled with endorsements to people with the right target market, this store is growing with stable sales, which tend to increase during this pandemic.

Similar to the previous 4 stores, Colorinfash utilizes its sales support platforms, namely Whatsapp, Instagram, and Shopee. Whatsapp as a customer service or a place for questions and answers, even consultation and discussion with consumers and potential customers. This is maximized in order to maintain and maintain consumer confidence in Colorinfash. Apart from that, this store also always maintains the quality of its products for the convenience of consumers. In terms of the types of products sold since their establishment in 2014 to 2021, Colourinfash is quite focused and consistent in selling shirts as their main product and there are several other products such as pants, tunics and dresses, but only slightly not as much as the shirts. With an Instagram account named user @colourinfash, this shop has 92,200 followers accounts. Apart from being used as an online catalog, this Colorinfash Instagram account is also used as a medium for updated information and also displays several testimonials or reviews from consumers. This store's Instagram account is very active and complete, starting from product photos, buyer reviews, product information and details. With all that plus the number of followers they have, it can be an additional value for new potential customers that this store is trusted.

 

Promotion Strategy and Constraints for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprisesclothing Plus size before and during the Covid-19 pandemic

Promotions carried out by individuals and companies have a special strategy. Desired from a business unit, in order to attract the attention of consumers to make purchasing decisions on products offered by the company. In this case, promotion is usually a one-way communication carried out by the company that aims to influence consumers to be interested in buying the company's products. Each company has its own promotional strategy according to the type of goods or services they provide and also depending on the target market. With the Covid-19 pandemic, of course, many things are limited to prevent the transmission of the virus and this has changed many human habits. And in this case, each store has its own strategy or method to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Attractive does not have a special strategy during this pandemic, so it can be said that this store is consistent with all activities and types of promotions that have made sales stable since before the pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a fairly unfavorable effect on Attractive sales, which had previously been stable. In the absence of new innovations in promotions, Attractive sales can be said to have declined further and become an obstacle for stores due to this pandemic. Clarissa, the owner of Attractive, said that our obstacles so far were more during the Covid-19 outbreak, because our mobility is limited, people's purchasing power has also decreased.

Moysstyle's special strategy that is different from the other 4 stores is to take advantage of the owner's popularity to introduce the store and sell its products. With a strategy like this can increase the level of trust of potential consumers. Coupled with product quality that is always maintained both in terms of materials and stitches so that consumers get products with always good quality. Solutive and communicative customer service facilities and the facility to return products if there is an error from the store provided is quite effective, for example, there are some consumers who always buy every product issued by Moysstyle.

In terms of constraints or obstacles, Moysstyle is quite difficult to be able to makeproducts ready stock because the materials used are still limited and have not taken directly to the factory on a large scale. This makes Moysstyle has no daily income and sales. In addition, as a store that is growing and known through Tiktok, the emergence of other online stores is starting to become an obstacle. Because now there are many similar shops selling the same products as Moysstyle.

The promotional strategy that is always applied by Omah Muslim is routine endorsements and consistently making various content both on Instagram and Tiktok. In addition, this store always follows trends the existing clothingso that it can offer and provide many clothing models that are sought after by consumers. Plus, this store still provides clothes from normal sizes to plus sizes, making this store the choice of many people and the target market is wider than just stores that provide plus size. With this pandemic Omah Muslim can only run promotions online, because offline promotions are hampered by the covid-19 pandemic.

This Mouu shop includes running during the pandemic, there is no comparison for promotional strategies before and during the pandemic. But by using tiktok alone, this store can run smoothly and sales continue to increase every month. The promotional strategy carried out by this store is through very low prices and reaches consumers from the lower middle class economy. The selection of talent endorsement the rightalso made this store successful in its promotion. In addition, this store also often holds giveaways for its followers to look after and maintain them.

The colour in fash store during this pandemic continues to rely on Tiktok social media to do promotions, from creating their own content to doing endorsements. This store's promotional strategy is quite different. Previously, colour in fash promoted using various advertisements and endorsements on Instagram. However, after the pandemic, the focus was more onendorsements on social media, Tiktok, which was considered more effective, starting from the price and the feedback on sales.

The problem faced by this store during the covid-19 pandemic was the stock piling up and in the end they reduced the existing stock, for example, usually the stock of 100 pcs is now only 50 pcs. The results of this store's observation on Tiktok's social media can happen because this store doesn't dovery often endorsements, so not too many Tiktok users know about this store even though the products are quite popular with the public. For example, when this store makes an endorsement, usually the content goes to your page and gets a lot of viewers, including interactions in the video comments section that contain a lot of people's interest in the product.

 

CONCLUSION

Micro, small, and medium business entrepreneurs in plus size clothing are promoting on social media tiktok during the covid-19 pandemic to increase sales by frequently making endorsements to the right influencers. In this case, it can be seen from various sides, starting from the personality and dressing style of the influencer, such as feminine, exprorative, or quirky such as street style or seeing the interests of his followers, this can be seen from their comments on the influencer's content. The use of other supporting platforms in promoting using Tiktok can increase product sales. From the results of this study, to create an online catalog of products, a store can use Instagram with attentive notes, starting from the technique of taking pictures that will be displayed, arranging the appearance on the Instagram account, and also the activeness of the account to interact with followers. What makes the difference from the promotion strategy of plus size clothing stores before and during the Covid-19 pandemic is that all stores are more active in using Tiktok social media for promotions, either creating their own advertising content or doing endorsements. The effect of this promotional strategy is quite significant and 3 out of 5 online stores that are the subject of this study are stores that were newly established and active during the Covid-19 pandemic and their income was quite stable and even increased to more than 100%.��

 

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