"Sharing Economy" Platform Efforts to Help Partners Amid the Pandemic

In 2015, the concept sharing economy have not become part of the daily life of Indonesian people. In a survey to 1008 people, 85% of respondents said they had heard of this concept, but still less than 40% had tried it. In 2020, services like this have become a necessity and part of the lifestyle.

According to data as of the end of the first quarter of 2020, Gojek, platforms sharing economy the largest local company in Indonesia, operating in 214 cities and five Southeast Asian countries with more than 2 million driver partners. Application Gojek claimed to have been downloaded more than 170 million times by consumers in this region. According to App Annie's report entitled "2020 State of Mobile Report", Gojek be an application on-demand most widely used by Indonesian people throughout 2019.

Sharing economy is now a source of income for many parties in the ecosystem, including driver partners, restaurant business owners, and providers of various services (cleaning, massage, health, and others).

The ongoing spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia directly affects the use of services and the welfare of these ecosystem partners. According to INDEF (Institute for Development of Economics and Finance) researcher Nailul Huda, the impact is a bit burdensome for the business industry with the concept of sharing economy.

"Demand for their services will automatically decrease. There will be very less people ordering online motorcycle taxi services or based inns" sharing economy. The impact, of course, is that partners who rent out their services will lose a significant amount of income," said Huda.

Effort Gojek help partners and merchants

Although it was not explained further what percentage of the decrease in the number of uses in the ecosystem, Chief of Corporate Affairs Gojek Nila Marita, to to DailySocial explained, during this pandemic, many changes took place. Nevertheless Gojek claims to build a business strategically and sustainably that does not only rely on one service.

"Although large-scale restrictions affect online transportation services, we see a shift in people's behavior from offline to online transactions, because most people have to move from home to avoid the risk of spreading the virus," said Nila.

Nila added, this shift in offline to online transactions is widely felt, especially in services food delivery, groceries, and delivery of goods. People's habits to eat on the spot (dine-in) and buying basic daily needs in stores or supermarkets, is now shifting to buying online.

Gojek moving quickly to adapt, such as expanding the GoFood service from previously ordering food to also serve purchases of staples, daily necessities, and ready-to-cook food.

"We also help our SME partners to be able to do their business online, so they don't lose the opportunity to maintain their income and business turnover. The ability to adapt quickly to this situation is one of competitive advantage us to be able to continue to maintain business continuity during the pandemic," said Nila.

Financial support was also launched Gojek to partners. The funding came from three sources. Co-CEO and senior management Gojek will donate 25% of their annual salary over the next 12 months, budgeted annual salary increases for all employees Gojek will be diverted to relief funds, and the establishment of a foundation to help others make donations, including corporate partners Gojek.

In a joint statement, Co-CEO Gojek Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Aluwi said, "These funds will support driver-partners who are the lifeblood of our business and have become a vital part of people's lives that are currently experiencing limited space for movement. What is clear is that each company has a responsibility to provide as much support as possible and this is something we can do to help our partners through this difficult period."

Furthermore, Gojek and Bank BRI launched a low interest loan facility for GoRide, GoCar, and partners merchant GoFood. Partners Gojek Those who register and meet BRI requirements have the potential to get a loan facility of IDR 5-20 million.

New innovation of Seekmi layanan service

Meanwhile, the Seekmi platform is trying to expand its services to accommodate the needs of its consumers. According to Seekmi CEO Clarissa Leung, most businesses in Indonesia and around the world have experienced a slowdown due to the crisis. The best thing about Seekmi's business is that it can easily change positions.

"For example, we have been able to reuse cleaners and leverage their existing expertise, with some additional training, to provide disinfection cleaning service. We are also able to provide work for our technicians to help build and assemble furniture, an area that has grown as a result of the Work From Home rule. Our technology platform is so powerful that it can manage any kind of 'blue collar' workforce and adapt easily to different situations," said Clarissa.

Post-pandemic, Clarissa sees the services presented by her company will experience technology adoption faster than before. The reality is that households and businesses can no longer function in the same way they used to.

"We are also exploring partnerships with lending companies to provide loans to our technicians and cleaners," Clarissa said.

#KitaVScorona campaign Grab Indonesia

With the policy to stay at home in order to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus, many SMEs are feeling the impact on their livelihoods. Digitalization can help them. The step is selected Grab to help small and traditional businesses adapt to this new trend, the Company tries to help them maintain revenue, even with various restrictions.

Grab claimed, during the pandemic, delivery business services had increased, including food delivery services GrabFood, delivery service GrabExpress, goods purchasing service GrabMarts, service GrabFresh supported by HappyFresh, and services on-demand access concierge terbaru GrabAssistant.

"As a versatile application, Grab believe in technology for goodtech for good) to create a positive social impact for each of our partners, such as driver partners, merchant partners, delivery partners, and also our customers. Therefore, Grab always striving to create economic opportunities at scale, create financial inclusion for the underserved, and enable access to safer and higher quality everyday services," said Managing Director Grab Indonesia Neneng Goenadi to DailySocial.

Similar to Gojek, Grab Indonesia and Bank BRI are collaborating to launch a low interest loan facility for driver partners Grab, merchant partners GrabFood, and partners GrabStall. This loan aims to ease the financial burden on the affected driver-partners. In addition, the distribution of People's Business Credit (KUR) is expected to help merchant GrabFood and partners GrabStalls to get the financial assistance they need to overcome challenges during this pandemic.

"Currently we are conducting socialization for driver-partners who have the opportunity to get this loan facility. Driver-partners who can get this loan are partners who are productive and active and have become driver partners. Grab for several years. In addition, the partner concerned must have good performance, including a certain amount of average income," said Neneng.

Service future sharing economy

Term new normal it seems that it will affect the sharing economy platform like Gojek, Seekmi, and Grab. Not only in terms of approach to target customers, but also the company's approach to driver partners and merchants. The use of non-cash payments is becoming more common and the application of technology is expected to provide a more efficient and faster implementation of new situations.

After the pandemic, people will be more concerned with health and hygiene factors. Digital industry services based on sharing economy will also be more selective in choosing partners.

"Their business will revive with this record," said Huda.