Closing Jade and Stopping Coral, Signs that Indonesia's E-commerce Industry Competition is Getting Tighter

The most competitive vertical startup in Indonesia is E-commerce. Since the first time hyping startups are heard in Indonesia, this sector does not seem to run out of enthusiasts. Lots of startup models E-commerce emerged, both with similar and different concepts. Not infrequently large companies enter this industry by reason of developing their business towards digital.

One of the effects of intense competition E-commerce There are many startups that wither, close before they are even known to the public. This year, Jade, a service E-commerce who are reportedly ready to heat up industry competition E-commerce in Indonesia with the concept of premium members announced the closure of its services in an unspecified time. It is not clear what is going on, so far Jade's side has not been confirmed.

Besides that, there are also Coral, a service mobile marketplace trying to leverage social and mobile trends into the shopping experience. Compete with a number of players such as Lyke, Shopee, and Carousell, recently Coral site inaccessible and the Coral app has been pulled from Google Play. We are trying to contact Coral to confirm this. There are reports that Coral is currently doing rebranding for the service, although it has not been confirmed.

These two services complete the ranks of e-commerce startups that have stopped their services in Indonesia this year. It's been there before Ensogo and Rakuten which closed all of its services in Southeast Asia. PinkEmma, ​​the previous one too raises a question mark, seems to be back in operation.

Stopping the service is sometimes the best option

In every closing decision there must be issues behind it. Whether it's running out of capital, not being able to compete with existing players, until they are preparing turn over business to more potential forms, markets, or users. Likewise the questions that came to mind about Jade and Coral. Both are still not 6 months old since launch.

Industry E-commerce in Indonesia is now getting stricter and tougher. Tight to describe how crowded this industry is and hard to describe anyone must be prepared to go out of business or be acquired. If the funding support is not so great, it is difficult to compete with existing players. What exists even withers before growing, unless positioning yourself as niche players.

If you look at the players E-commerce in Indonesia that still survive, such as Lazada, Bukalapak, Tokopedia, Mataharimall, Alfacart, Blanja, Bhinneka, and others, they have huge capital support to be able to continue to innovate and promote themselves to the public. With no "winner" in this sector yet, fuel for investor funding is crucial. Those who run out of gas, will stop in the middle of the road.

- Randi Eka Yonida contributed to the writing of this article.