Ku Ka Marketplace Focuses on Local Products Made in Indonesia

Departing from a love for local products, KU KA CEO and Founder Titonius Karto founded online marketplace which is loaded with fashion and food and beverage products made in Indonesia. There are two sites that are currently being developed and have been accessible since September 2015, namely Ku Ka (clothes) and KuKa (food).

"For Ku Ka consumers can access and buy all fashion products made by young Indonesian designers, while for KuKa Kedai consumers can buy original food and beverage products made by local businesses," said Tito.

Currently Ku Ka claims to have around 1.000 local product sellers. As many as 600 of them sell clothing, household appliances, art and beauty products. The total products currently available on the Ku Ka portal are more than 3500 products. Meanwhile, the food and beverage products at Kedai Ku Ka have reached more than 400 products from nearly 300 sellers.

"Ku Ka was founded as more than a marketplace As usual, we want to invite everyone in Indonesia who has small businesses (MSMEs) at home to then sell and promote their products at Ku Ka and Kedai Ku Ka," said Tito

Seller curation selective process

Another thing that most distinguishes Ku Ka and Kedai Ku Ka with marketplace the other is that all existing sellers can only sell products made in Indonesia. If there are rogue sellers who then sell foreign products such as those made in China or Bangladesh, their existence will be removed immediately. This is done to ensure that all products sold are made in Indonesia.

"Our team always carries out a curation process for sellers, in addition to adding more sellers, we are also actively making direct approaches in all cities in Indonesia, especially among SMEs, cooperatives and communities," said Tito.

The personal approach taken by the Ku Ka team and Kedai Ku Ka has proven to have accommodated the number of SME sellers in Indonesia. Currently, the Ku Ka community and Kedai Ku Ka have spread across 13 major cities in Indonesia.

"Next month, Ku Ka and Kedai Ku Ka plan to open a branch office in Yogyakarta, to get more local sellers to become part of the Kuka community and Kedai Ku Ka," said Tito.

Currently Ku Ka and Kedai Ku Ka also claim to have received quite active transactions every day, on certain occasions Ku Ka claims to have received a transaction value of up to IDR 60 million in one day.

"Most of the orders that come in at Ku Ka are repeat ordersHowever, there are also many new consumers who then buy various products at Ku Ka from local to foreign countries," said Tito.

With payment options via credit cards, bank transfers, mobile accounts and partnerships with well-known logistics companies in Indonesia, Ku Ka is always consistent in terms of delivery, product provision and the alertness of the existing team.

"Although currently the communication methods we offer still rely on traditional methods, namely through WhatsApp, BBM and SMS, we are committed to helping business owners to cut communication barriers that are usually quite annoying and take too long with buyers," said Tito.

Overseas expansion and fundraising plans

Currently, Ku Ka and Kedaikuka are still running their business independently bootstrapping, however, it is hoped that by the end of 2016 will get funding from investors from Malaysia. Who is the VC that will invest and how much money will be disbursed still cannot be informed.

"Of course we hope that the funding that we will get will be able to expand our business, increase the number of employees and add to the existing features and technology," said Tito.

Currently Ku Ka and Kedai Ku Ka are only available in the web version, the plan is that by the end of 2016 a mobile application will be launched on the mobile platform for Android and iOS.

Regarding the target market, the Indonesian people are fully targeted, however, it cannot be denied by the variety of products that exist and are classified niches, There are also many foreign consumers who are then interested in buying various products food and beverage and fashion offered, including Japan and Malaysia.

"Our main target market is of course the Indonesian people, however, over time our sellers have also begun to receive orders from abroad, in the future we will develop this potential," said Tito.

Currently Ku Ka has not done monetization and is still providing free services with 0% commission to all sellers until the end of 2016, however, seeing the potential and opportunities that exist, it is hoped that marketplace which focuses on locally made products, will innovate and make a positive transformation as an Indonesian startup.

"I believe with the business model that we run and support all businesses from SMEs from Indonesia Ku Ka and Kedai Ku Ka can become business owners marketplace complete, best with quality products made in Indonesia," concluded Tito.