Mapan Is Not Just a “Social Commerce” Platform for Rural Mothers

The e-commerce sector is the main engine driving various digital innovations, ranging from payments, logistics, to empowering MSMEs. However, the issue of equity is still attached to developing countries, such as Indonesia which has thousands of islands, which became the forerunner of the birth of the concept social commerce.

Menurut Research and Markets (2021) and Alpha JWC Ventures & Kearney (2021) as arranged DSInnovate in the report “Social Commerce Report: Digitizing the Second-Tier Cities”, market share in this segment will reach $8,6 billion by 2022 with an annual CAGR growth of 55%. It is predicted that this segment will grow by $86,7 billion in 2028 with a CAGR of 47,9%.

Segment social commerce targeting users in the city tier Two and three, it is predicted that the growth of the digital economy will increase by five times by 2025. Cities outside metropolitan cities will also be a contributor to GDP at 3-5% by 2030, or $46-77 billion.

This large market is what causes many players to emerge social commerce. Still quoting from the same report, there are at least 16 startups detected operating in Indonesia. Mapan can be said to be the oldest player, with the previous name RUMA which has been operating since 2009.

This startup founded by Aldi Haryopratomo started his journey by becoming one of the pioneers of credit service agents and PPOB (online bank payment points) which operates in Java and Bali. Then in 2015, it launched Mapan Arisan, a breakthrough to meet the needs of basic household products through the digital arisan application. The product finally came to fruition flagship and the difference between players social commerce most.

Mapping Mapan's position against other social commerce players, referring to the report DSInnovate, no one is a direct competitor, either in terms of product or business model. In terms of products, Mapan works together with Berkahi, IbuSibuk, and Selleri to present a range of other products and fashion. Meanwhile, from the business model, Mapan is in the position of group buying, alongside Grupin, Kitabeli, and Credimart.

Mapan Arisan's Journey

This application works similarly to conventional social gathering concept in general, namely using a shuffle to determine who gets their turn in a certain period. The difference is, arisan members are motivated to pay in installments for the items they want, such as kitchen equipment, household equipment and furniture, and purchase them through the catalog provided by Mapan.

As time goes by, the Arisan Mapan catalog continues to be added to. Now there is a choice of electronic products, gadgets and children's toys, provided by more than 200 principal brands that have partnered.

Members can choose different items in one group. Then, the application will determine and adjust the deposit amount according to the type and price of the desired item. This gap can be seen as a way to increase the purchasing power of households in the lower middle class of the economy.

The arisan chairman will register his arisan group with a minimum of five people, by entering the names, cellphone numbers, addresses and orders of the arisan members. Then fill in the delivery address, so that it will be sent directly to the arisan member's address. Together, each group also determines the shuffle date as the final deadline for deposit payments. The winner of each month's social gathering will be announced after the group deposit has been successfully paid.

The chairman of the social gathering, which is an extension of Mapan, is the channel for paying bills from its members. Members themselves can deposit their arisan money in cash, or transfer via Gopay. Before the social gathering is finished shuffling, the chairman will deposit all funds to Mapan, via Gopay or bank account transfer.

The Mapan Arisan concept is very close to the target user Gojek this is the end initiates entry Established into the ecosystem Gojek until it was officially fully acquired in 2017. A year earlier, the two companies carried out a business collaboration targeting partners Gojek become chairman of the social gathering.

Arisan = social commerce

In a joint interview DailySocial.id, Mapan CEO Ardelia Apti conveyed that this social gathering concept could become a reality pintu move towards more adequate financial access. The issue for the lower middle class is that there is no access to banking services due to zero credit history, so many people run to high-interest loans.

This condition means that this group of people does not have many choices when they want to buy goods at high prices. According to Ardel, Ardelia's nickname, the social gathering concept adopted by Mapan was introduced to the community by saving to buy the goods they want, while still prioritizing the principle of discipline.

"We marry the close-knit spirit of Indonesian society with a community that has many factors, namely they like to have social relationships, but have a low level of trust in unknown companies or new payment methods. "Communities are needed as channels to get new information," he said.

Apart from combining the concept of arisan with saving, Mapan curates selected items that are suitable and needed by arisan members to make it easier to choose items. Also, make the payment aspect easier, there is no need for KYC to become an arisan member because this is all done independently. Access to good quality goods turns out to be an issue that is quite often experienced by people outside big cities.

“Create your own social gathering group because this is not for credit or saving, so there is no financial risk. If a member fails to pay, the group will arrange it amicably. "We are holding the head of the social gathering as our agent to help with the market introduction process."

He continued, "We are making social gathering products in Mapan relevant, starting from the payment method and the form of community, the aim is so that people can have more confidence in the ecosystem we are creating."

Apart from Mapan Arisan, the company is also developing other solutions, namely Mapan Pulsa (PPOB) and Mapan Mart (platform selling basic necessities and household necessities). Both are additional channels for the head of the social gathering (called an agent) to earn income outside of the husband's main income to support the family.

Mapan targets users from among women who work as housewives or shop owners, who want to contribute to their families. Ardel said that the real condition experienced by a Mapan agent was that he succeeded in providing the best performance so that the income he received eventually became the main income for his family.

“The age range of our users is 35-50 years old. Those we recruit as agents are mothers who already exist tech-savvy, early adopter, and become key opinion leader (KOL) in their environment. So at least they already have it digital wallets and bank payments, because they become our extensions and agents to educate their friends."

Become a sustainable company

As a startup, Mapan is also faced with demands to become a sustainable company. Ardel said that the company's current income comes from partnerships with principal brands that supply goods in the Mapan Arisan catalogue. There is a number of commissions that the company receives if it successfully sells it to arisan members.

Mapan gives them access to the deepest communities that previously could not be penetrated in a unique way. Previously, to enter a region, direct influencing factors were needed that had an important role in getting people to pay attention. “With the concept of social gathering and connecting principal brands, we are in the middle. We can be profitable with generate profit from B2B. We do not charge interest from the social gathering at all.”

Not only driven by B2B, Mapan's internal operations since the last three years have begun to implement the light asset concept. This means that the entire supply chain uses partnerships with third parties, from procurement to delivery, including product procurement at Mapan Mart using a partnership with Blibli. Mapan only becomes a sales channel for principal brands to meet their target buyers.

“Because we only take it existing behavior, so there's no need to change anything new, especially burning a lot of money. This social gathering is already a habit common, it just needs to be digitized. We can increase profit levels and growth so it's better to take advantage of it businesses because this is important for you scalability. "

Because delivery speed is not something the company encourages, every item purchased by a social gathering member takes a maximum of 7-14 days in accordance with Mapan's SLA and depends on conditions in the field. But it is not uncommon for delivery in big cities to take less than seven days.

Although the company's current position regarding profitability was not detailed, Ardel confirmed that there were several metrics that showed healthier growth. “There is additional liquidity [fundraising] can accelerate our position moving towards profitability.”

Regarding Mapan agents, so far it is claimed that they have reached 250 thousand people serving more than 3 million users, but it is not stated how many people are active from this figure. These agents are spread across 250 second and third tier cities in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Sulawesi and the city of Kupang. Unfortunately, the cities with the majority of Mapan agents are not mentioned.

Not only does it want to be known for its digital social gatherings, in the future Mapan wants to become an application that has various products for additional income for agents, as well as an application for shopping for various needs for end consumers.

"From the side trade and financial We want to be more comprehensive because in the future Mapan must become an ecosystem of various products and services."

The investment will be supported by proceeds Series A pendanaan funding worth $15 million that the company announced some time ago. In this way, the company's target of reaching 10 million Indonesian families by 2026 can be realized.