Kaskus Establishes Garasi.id Automotive Marketplace [UPDATED]

Social commerce platforms Kaskus established a subsidiary engaged in the automotive marketplace "Garasi.id". This platform is expected to be a comprehensive solution offered by Kaskus for the convenience of buying and selling used cars online, which is claimed to be not yet present in Indonesia.

Garasi.id is the fruit of thought from Kaskus to explore the automotive world, especially four wheels. This is because the automotive segment at Kaskus Forum is among the top 5 most talked about and the top 5 in Kaskus Buying and Selling.

As a legal entity, Garasi.id has been officially established since July 2017. However, the new site was presented to the public on August 17, 2017.

"For buying and selling used cars online, a more comprehensive facility is needed because it will include partnerships with partners to make the ecosystem more complete. Garasi.id as a subsidiary of Kaskus has a mission to become a specific "in-depth" force for buying and selling used cars, by meeting the needs of car ownership, from inspection, financing, insurance, to workshop maintenance to detailing," said Garasi CEO and CPO Kaskus Ardyanto Alam to DailySocial.

Ardy claims that compared to similar sites, Garasi.id is quite different. Some of the features that are presented include the showroom has an online display that can be personalized by yourself.

This feature, continued Ardy, can be a solution for car sellers who have only advertised on offline media or personal social media accounts. Every time they update the car investor to offer, once verified it will appear automatically on their site.

In addition, there are features personal assistant for potential car buyers who need help researching the car they are looking for. Garasi.id can help calculate the budget, to arrange an agreement with a used car showroom for vehicle inspections.

The garage also provides services car inspector for potential buyers to prevent potential fraud. In this case, his party cooperates with general workshops with networks spread across Jabodetabek and has trained professional mechanics.

"We guarantee that every listing that comes in must previously go through a moderation and verification process. The photos presented are guaranteed to be of high quality and are in accordance with Garasi.id standards."

Garage Plan.id

So far, Garasi.id has collected more than 10 thousand vehicle showroom listings spread across Jabodetabek. Ardy said this location has almost half of the market share, suppliers, and buying and selling transactions throughout Indonesia. Based on the number of visits, he was reluctant to disclose because this site has not been a week since its release.

Until the end of this year, Garasi.id plans to increase the number of its listings throughout Java, Bali and Lombok. The following year will target Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Eastern Indonesia.

Ardy continued, in the future Garasi.id will also present responsive web design on mobile sites by carrying Google PWA (Progressive Web App) technology. This approach was taken because in terms of development, Garasi.id is one of Google's partners who became an "early adopter" of carrying this technology. This advantage for users will feel like a native app because of its similar appearance.

"Especially in terms of technology investment, it is more efficient because there is no need to maintain the native versions of iOS and Android apps."

It also continues to prioritize the quality elements of the listings presented. Because the quality of listings is Garasi.id's benchmark as a liaison between sellers and buyers. He also hopes that there will be engagement with car buyers, starting from their willingness to use inspection services, to their willingness to use inspection services post-sales which they can use to take care of the car in a workshop that has partnered with Garasi.id.

"We also maintain the quality of trusted partners both in terms of funding and insurance providers to facilitate the majority of prospective used car buyers," concluded Ardy.

Besides Garasi.id, previously there were other automotive marketplaces circulating in Indonesia. Some of them are Mobil123, Carmudi, KingCar, your car, car, and others.

Update: Information about Garasi.id's plans to be available on mobile sites with Google PWA technology