6 Records of Agritech Actors Adapting to Consumer Behavior during a Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed shopping behavior in Indonesia from offline ke online. People are starting to take advantage of buying and selling platforms to get their daily needs during the PSBB.

This trend is certainly a great opportunity for actors agritech which market food ingredients, such as vegetables and fruits. On the other hand, this phenomenon is a challenge in itself with its readiness to face a significant surge in orders.

Then, how agritech adapt to consumer behavior during the pandemic? Listen insight interesting from the Co-founder and CEO of Kedai Sayur Adrian Hernanto in session #TuesdayStartup the following.

Overcome the decrease in transactions through the farmer channel

The pandemic hit various business sectors without exception. For Kedai Sayur, which has been playing in the B2B segment since the beginning, the pandemic has resulted in a decrease in transaction volume.

When it was first implemented, the PSBB period was close to the month of Ramadan, while the greengrocer partners who became one of the spearheads of their business, went home for a long period of time. Not to mention partners from hotels, restaurants, and cafes were forced to reduce the volume of orders because of the PSBB.

According to Adrian, the company is trying to find new loopholes to deal with this situation. The trick is to help the distribution of farmers' crops to be absorbed quickly, and help their cropping cycle not to stop.

"Usually the volume of orders reaches Rp. 1 million per day. Due to the pandemic, sizeits down to Rp. 400 thousand per day. To adjust demand, we are looking for a solution by helping distribution to customer base. Their income is disrupted because conventional logistics routes are hampered," said Adrian.

Empowering communities as agents

Because it still focuses on the B2B area, Kedai Sayur doesn't have a channel B2C to market their products directly to consumers. The B2C channel itself is targeted to launch in the first quarter of 2021. During the Covid-19 outbreak, there was a lot of demand for foodstuffs from the food segment. consumer.

In order to adapt to the request, Adrian couldn't help it do pivoting to B2C. He uses a community approach to become a Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) agent for daily needs in his neighborhood.

This initiative was realized through the Kedai Emak service which was launched at the beginning of the PSBB. In addition to embracing the community to become agents, this method is carried out to empower people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

Carry out business operational efficiency

One form of adaptation that can be done is to make efficiency. Vegetable Shop does shifting market with reference to local government policies. For example, when the PSBB in Jakarta was accelerated, Kedai Sayur shifting market to Bekasi and Tangerang.

Adrian also revealed that his company has made massive efficiency by evaluating distribution centers that have high demand. During the pandemic, he was forced to close one distribution center due to a decrease in transaction volume.

"The logistics department also needs to be streamlined because of the startup critical with run away. Startups do need to maintain service level, but they must remain efficient," said Adrian.

Enter all market segments

One of the challenges of agritech players in the industry perishable is how to meet the needs grade product in full. According to Adrian, the key is to enter all market segments, both B2B and B2C.

By entering all segments, business people can meet various product requests from: grade whatever. Product absorption is also faster.

"Vegetarians usually have specifics grade in choosing a product, while sourcing from the farmer must take all grade. Well, it's better if perishable goes into all segments so that it is absorbed. Combination between sourcing and market demands That's the key to success in this business," said Adrian.

Leveraging data to optimize operations

It is undeniable, data plays an important role in reading a trend or phenomenon in the digital era. In the context of a pandemic, Adrian said data can show trends in demand for orders or product prices in certain areas.

Take for example, the price of cayenne pepper in Bekasi and East Jakarta can be different from that in South Jakarta. Precisely from this situation, Kedai Sayur can utilize data to optimize its operations.

"The key is tocapture information from last mile we. So, engine di back end made in such a way for capture data as quickly as possible. This could be feedback to the sourcing and pricing department for service optimization," he explained.

Value proposition strong through logistics

Adrian considers logistics to be the most crucial element in marketing agricultural products. Moreover, this product is included in the product category perishable. For partners such as vegetable vendors, of course this is a challenge in itself.

The rhythm of work activities of vegetable vendors generally starts at night, where they shop for products one by one at the market and start selling in the morning. Meanwhile, product perishable can not be sold again if not sold,

"That's why we offer value proposition with logistical solutions so that vegetable growers can have normal working hours, working capital, and a better price. Now the greengrocer lives login and just order. They have bargaining power," he closed.