Looking for "Winners" for E-Commerce Services in Indonesia

The 90s became the starting point for starting a business using the latest technology, namely the internet. Starting from the presence of e-mail, search engines, browsers to e-commerce services which are still relatively new but show considerable potential.

In the mid 90's to early 2000, new e-commerce services began to emerge that offered an easy buying and delivery process to the public. Among them is Amazon which was launched in 1995 by its founder Jeff Bezos. Amazon was originally a bookstore that sold online. Currently, Amazon already has extensive services, no longer selling books online, but also clothing products, daily necessities, to cloud computing.

According to data The report of Statista, Amazon's total sales per quarter are now over $30 billion.

Other e-commerce services that have emerged and are considered successful today dot com bubble in the 90s was eBay, which in 1995 emerged as an online auction site. Now that eBay has become a global marketplace for selling a variety of products with 103,6 million item listings worldwide and an additional 6,1 million item listings every day, eBay offers everyone the opportunity to buy and sell items.

Each of these e-commerce services has expanded almost worldwide. eBay itself already has a representative office in Indonesia and it is estimated that Amazon, which will be present in Singapore, will also expand to Indonesia.

The lesson to be learned from Amazon and eBay is that it takes a long time, the latest innovations, and a variety of products to become number one.

Prediction of leading e-commerce services in the country

In Indonesia, e-commerce services have started to emerge since the late 90s with the presence of Bhinneka which started as a offline store then started to build an online store with limited products in 1999. Until now Bhinneka still exists with the latest and most complete range of electronic products in Indonesia.

In 2006 Tokobagus was launched and has now changed to OLX. In 2009 Tokopedia was present, followed by Bukalapak in 2010 and Blibli in 2011. All are local e-commerce services that still exist and even show a considerable increase in terms of customers, products, and transactions.

"Compared to the previous year, the development of e-commerce in Indonesia grew rapidly in 2016. Especially with the recent acquisition of a Chinese company. We think that investment opportunities entering Indonesia will be more advanced. The Indonesian market also still has a lot of room for growth. growing, especially with the current internet penetration at 35%, which is still increasing," said Deliveree's Senior Manager Regional Nattapak Atichartakarn.

According to the Chairperson of the Indonesian E-Commerce Association (idEA), who is also the CEO of Blanja, Aulia E Marinto, being number one for the e-commerce business is the dream of all business people. All parties must pursue to lead in that direction. However, it is still in the process stage, not yet in the final stage.

He said the final signs would be seen from the very large volume of business used by almost all Indonesians. The time it would take to get to that point, Aulia estimated, would be another 5-10 years. Aulia hopes that, during that time, the number one players will come from local players, not foreign ones.

"Currently the opportunity is still open, so no one can say he is the number one player or not. We also hope that the winner will come from local, so they must be encouraged to compete and innovate, don't want to lose because this is part of the competition," he said. .

Joedi Wisuda, Country Director of True Money Indonesia, said there shouldn't be only one winner, because basically all players must be winners in their respective businesses. The most important thing is how to win the hearts of their respective customers.

"In order for this industry to continue to advance in serving customers as well as possible, so that the winners are all, not just one. Thus, the competition will be healthier, not tripping over each other. All must join hands to serve more customers," he said.

Tokopedia, Bukalapak, and various new innovations that are presented

In 2016 it is still too early to conclude who is the leading e-commerce service, as has happened naturally in the US with Amazon and eBay. According to a survey conducted Google Indonesia Some time ago, five favorite e-commerce services appeared in Indonesia. The truly local ones are Tokopedia in second place and Bukalapak in third. The first rank is Lazada which incidentally is currently the largest e-commerce service in Southeast Asia and has been acquired by Alibaba.

Tokopedia and Bukalapak are chasing each other with a wide selection of products, promos and new channels offered. On the other hand, to press 'burn rate', they are also required to be able to generate stable and sustainable profits.

On a separate occasion, DailySocial spoke with the CEO of Tokopedia, William Tanuwijaya. William is fully aware that in order for a business to run well and last long, new innovations are needed which are expected to be a new opportunity to generate profits. Among them are digital payment channels, campaigns offline, to promote transparent price promotions to the public.

"We will continue to bring new innovations, ranging from a variety of product choices, sales strategies to choices channel payment. In the future, Tokopedia also plans to become a new platform for paying traffic tickets for motorbikes and cars for people in need," said William.

Regarding Tokopedia's current "position", William is quite proud and gives appreciation to related parties and loyal customers who have chosen Tokopedia as their favorite e-commerce service in Indonesia. To be able to provide more services to users, Tokopedia also tries to outsmart all existing challenges and obstacles, from infrastructure to logistics.

"Our current focus is to provide more services to people living outside Java by implementing a localization strategy, namely placing merchants best in spot This is a strategic location that can be reached by Indonesian people who live in remote areas and have limited access to reach big cities and are difficult for logistics to pass," said William.

Unlike Tokopedia, Bukalapak itself puts forward a strategy growth hacking, especially since the arrival of the new COO Willix Halim. Asked about the current position of Bukalapak, which is the favorite but still has to share its popularity with Tokopedia, Willix said he was not surprised when in the end, Not only does Bukalapak excel, but also two or even three other e-commerce services.

"At Bukalapak, it's enough now"happy' with the existing position, which is to become one of the favorite services of the people throughout Indonesia. The hard work so far will certainly not stop with various innovations, product choices and marketing strategies that we will continue to provide," said Willix.

In addition, Willix also sees that e-commerce services will appear in the future "niche market" present and is expected to perform better among existing e-commerce services.

"I see in the future more new e-commerce services will emerge.niche' This can certainly be a new and interesting competitor to watch," said Willix.

Will Tokopedia and Bukalapak still be able to maintain their position as favorite e-commerce services in Indonesia until 2017? Or an e-commerce service will appear "niche market" in line with trends and demand today's society?

In the end, whoever the winner is, it is hoped that these local e-commerce services can contribute more to the Indonesian people and be able to compete globally.

- Disclosure: Marsya Nabila contributed to the creation of this article