GrabKiosk and GrabExpress Between Major Growth Verticals Grab, Exposure Country Director Indonesia

During her nearly 30 years of experience running a business in Southeast Asia, Neneng Goenadi is always passionate when it comes to the digital economy. He has seen how technology plays an important role in today's society, providing more options for businesses and citizens alike.

When offered the chance to join Grab in February 2019 as country managing director of Indonesia, he immediately took advantage of this opportunity. He has long admired how technology is Grab has changed and can be said to have improved the lives and businesses of many people in Indonesia, Goenadi told KrASIA.

“I want to be directly involved in the work being done Grab to help Indonesia's digital economy," he said. Before Grab, he served as Country Managing Director for Indonesia at consulting firm Accenture for five years, where he also served as Asia Pacific Head of Inclusion and Diversity for Industrial Resources, and Head of ASEAN Human Resources and Diversity.

Di Grab Indonesia, he took over the position previously held by Ridzki Karmadibrata, who is now the company's president. Goenadi's main goal is to improve corporate services Grab and the transportation business, he explained.

According to a report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co, the market value of Indonesia's digital economy will reach USD124 billion by 2025. The country also represents the largest market in the region with 271 million people and more than 196 million internet users, according to data. Indonesian Internet Providers Association (APJII).

Leading the Indonesian market for Grab is a challenging task, given the importance of the country to companies. in 2020, Grab officially launched its second headquarters in Indonesia, accompanying its main headquarters in Singapore. Apart from the potential that Indonesia has, market penetration is not an easy thing. Among other challenges, the country still struggles with unequal access to the internet and digital literacy.

"Indonesia is indeed a very large country, and I believe I am not the only leader who says that one of the main challenges in managing business in Indonesia is the nation's very wide and widespread geography," said Goenadi. “We want to convey that there are many markets here. Culture, demographics and infrastructure can vary from city to city, and they can be complex to manage.”

In 2019, Grab managed to outperform local rivals Gojek with a 64% share of the vehicle ordering service market, according to research firm ABI Research. Goenadi says that position Grab as the best ride-hailing service provider in the country has never wavered since then. Grab also managed to fend off domination Gojek in food delivery — a market they entered in 2016 — with 53% market share in 2020.

A year full of challenges with multiple paths to recovery

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected Grab, as demand for ride-hailing services plummeted across Indonesia, leading the company to shed 5% of its regional team. Senior executives Grab, including Goenadi, are also taking pay cuts of up to 20% in 2020.

The company has also stripped away the entertainment features provided under Hooq, due to the Singapore streaming service company apply for liquidation in March 2020. Thanks to the partnership between the two companies, users Grab can access Hooq video content from the app Grab since February 2019.

Although the ride-hailing business Grab have recovered and are almost back to normal levels, Goenadi admits that 2020 was the most challenging experience in his two years as a manager Grab Indonesia.

“Almost overnight, our transportation business crashed when micro-scale social distancing restrictions were implemented. Small businesses are impacted by the decline in foot traffic, especially those with no online presence," he said. "So we have to turn fast, not only to ensure that our driver-partners can sustain their livelihoods but also to protect the safety of our community."

However, the dim light in the sector ride hailing has made other sectors shine even brighter. Goenadi says that GrabStall, Grabfood, GrabExpress, and GrabMart will be the main engine of growth Grab Indonesia.

The company has been holding a series of workshops and conferences to teach digital skills to small business owners who have recently joined the network Grab, good Grabmart, GrabFood, as well GrabStall. Last year alone, there were more than half a million new traders, many of whom were going online for the first time, added Goenadi. Grab has also partnered with local organizations on educating less tech-savvy customers.

“Our focus this year is inclusivity. We partner with organizations like Sahabat UMKM to reach the elderly and people with disabilities, providing tools and training to help them in the digitalization movement.” Sahabat UMKM is an independent organization that helps small business owners connect and share growth tips.

Grab Indonesia plans to build a strong presence outside of metropolitan cities such as Jakarta or Surabaya for its service network. The company plans to enter more cities in central and eastern Indonesia, such as Bau-bau in Southeast Sulawesi, and Polewali Mandar in West Sulawesi. For example, Grab looking for more micro warungs, also known as warungs, to use the platform GrabThe Kiosk. This service allows shop owners to offer digital products, including remittance payments, electricity and insurance (BPJS), credit top-ups, bill payments, gold savings and insurance protection products.

“We are increasingly looking at agents GrabKiosk as an important node in supporting our goal of creating greater financial inclusion in Indonesia. Due to the geographical spread of the country, as well as cultural and demographic differences between cities, agents GrabOur kiosks have an important role to play in driving the adoption of digital and financial services, as they can be a convenient access point for users. when they need it," he said.

Until now, the company has more than 2 million agents GrabKiosks, including driver partners. Goenadi sees this as an opportunity for drivers to supplement their income during the pandemic.

As for shipping, said Goenadi, the company will add to its local footprint. “In the coming months, we will be launching GrabMart and GrabAssistant in more cities to serve more consumers. We will also enable more MSMEs to take advantage of our platform and logistics network to reach more consumers," he added.

Package delivery service Grab, GrabExpress, will also see new features aimed at making long-distance delivery more accessible and affordable for businesses. “Last year, as the pandemic gave rise to more home businesses, we realized that many social sellers were using GrabExpress to deliver their products to consumers," he said.

Adopt the initial idea Grab Philippines, Grab Indonesia also established a Boss Club GrabExpress, a community dedicated to supporting MSMEs and social sellers. Currently, more than 10.000 business owners have signed up under this program, which offers merchants specialized training programs such as business management and social media marketing.

Grab has no interest in re-entering the entertainment segment, either by partnering with other streaming platforms or in other ways. The company will focus on "everyday services that resonate with our consumers," and entertainment is not one of them, said Goenadi.

Seeing neglected markets

In the first quarter of 2021, Grab has expanded to 24 new cities, mostly small towns located in Eastern Indonesia. The company has also made minority investments in the LinkAja e-wallet, which has a strong presence in tier-2 to tier-4 cities, complementing Ovo, investees e-wallet Grab with strong performance in the tier-1 area.

“Indonesia is vast, and cash still reigns supreme. If we really want to accelerate Indonesia towards cashless society, ecosystem fintech An open society needs to be nurtured and collaborated with like-minded partners to achieve the common goal of increasing financial inclusion in Indonesia. Partners like OVO and LinkAja offer different strengths and portfolios of use cases,” he added.

"We also saw GrabKiosks are a key differentiator for us. By utilizing warungs that you can find in every neighborhood in the country, we can help make digital and financial services more accessible to every community in Indonesia," said Goenadi.

Also looking at the environmental aspect, the company has announced plans to operate a fleet of 26.000 electric vehicles by 2025. Currently, the company operates more than 5.000 EVs, ranging from electric cars, scooters, and bicycles. "In 2021, we also plan to operate an additional 1.500 two-wheel electric vehicles in Indonesia," said Goenadi.

Grab also collaborated with the crowdfunding platform Benih Baik and the independent research institute World Resources Institute (WRI) to launch a carbon offsetting program. User Grab can calculate the carbon footprint of their use of transportation, which will be converted into a voluntary donation to tree planting partners facilitated by WRI Indonesia.

With the recent announcement of the SPAC merger and the upcoming US listing, Goenadi is confident about the future Grab in Indonesia. “We are proud to represent Southeast Asia in the global public market. go public will be a breath of fresh air to accelerate our mission of empowering everyday entrepreneurs and bringing financial inclusion to the millions of people who unbanked and underbanked throughout Southeast Asia. At the same time, we will maintain our focus on building a sustainable business in the long term,” he said.

-This article was first released by KrASIA. Re-released in Indonesian as part of the collaboration with DailySocial