AlloFresh's "Online Grocery" Platform Launches, Starting from 7 Transmart Outlets

A joint venture between CT Corp, Bukalapak, and Growtheum Capital Partners (investor AlloBank) inaugurated the platform online groceriesAlloFresh after a short trial process since February 24, 2022. Currently 7 of the 138 outlets in the CT Corp network have entered the AlloFresh application.

The seven outlets are located in Jakarta, specifically Transmart Lebak Bulus, Cempaka Putih, Taman Mini, Pluit, Ambassador, Central Park, and Cibubur. Gradually the presence of Transmart outlets in other locations continues to be added at AlloFresh so that more consumers can take advantage of the solution online groceries this.

In the virtual inauguration today (2/3), President Director & CEO of PT Trans Retail Indonesia Bouzeneth Benaouda said, providing online and offline shopping facilities for consumers is the key in the future.

Although the gap between online shopping and total national retail spending is still wide, it does not want to deny the choice of online or offline shopping. They chose to take both segments.

"We don't want to" underestimating customers who still want experience shopping comes directly to the store. Outside Jakarta, such shopping habits still exist and the portion is large. So in the future, the two must walk together. This is closely related to what we are doing with Bukalapak,” he said.

Bukalapak President Teddy Oetomo continued, AlloFresh was here because of the spirit of collaboration, which if done by one party alone would cost a lot more. "Maybe it could be more than Rp1 trillion to get to this point," he said.

The Rp1 trillion meant by Teddy is the initial investment that was made for the development of AlloFresh. The majority shareholders in AlloFresh are Trans Retail (55%), Bukalapak (35%), and Growtheum (10%).

Teddy continued, there have been many players online groceries which builds its infrastructure from scratch. They have the technology, but it costs money and time to replicate existing infrastructure. This condition is different from AlloFresh, because Trans Retail has been around for more than two decades to build a network of outlets supermarket throughout Indonesia.

This advantage is claimed to be the main strength of AlloFresh which has not been offered by most startups. “So we did leapfrog 20+ years to accelerate penetration e-grocery which might take 20 years if done alone.”

Solution-wise, what AlloFresh offers is not much different from most players online groceries other. They present a selection of more than 150 thousand SKUs from 10 thousand suppliers, consisting of various categories, ranging from meat products, fresh vegetables and fruits, to cooking utensils. The platform offers fast delivery within three hours with a maximum delivery distance of 10 km from the store.

"Almost all Transmart products are available at AlloFresh," added Fanny Limasa, VP Product Marketplace & O2O Bukalapak.

In the future, AlloFresh will not only serve all end consumers from all over Indonesia, but will also be used by Bukalapak Partners to meet the stock of goods they sell in stalls. Teddy said that previously the SKUs that Bukalapak Partners could buy through partnerships with the principals at Bukalapak were only hundreds to thousands of SKUs.

Now, Bukalapak Partner in the regions can have more choices of products from various principals to offer more merchandise in their stalls. “It will be a tremendous force to help fulfillment FMCG is what stalls need,” he said.

Market competition

The presence of AlloFresh adds to the fierce competition for online grocery services in Indonesia. Previously, a number of startups started to show off earlier this year, offering concepts quick commerce, including Astro, Bananas, JaPang, to Radius. While other players, such as HappyFresh, are also tightening their product and market expansion strategies

In the e-commerce segment, the platforms also have a special strategy in the grocery sector. For example, Blibli with Blibli Mart – last year they acquired a majority stake in the parent Ranch Market to strengthen supply chain leaders fresh produce.

Shopee has also operated Shopee Supermarkets in Indonesia, facilitating the purchase of various daily necessities quickly. Unlike other players who take items from partners Grocery, they built inventory warehouses in various places to accommodate the need for fast shipping.