The Challenge of Building Community in "Social Commerce"

Community is an important element in building and running a business. Like support system, a community is a place for like-minded people to gather and build relationships.

In the business world, especially online, the community can have a big influence because it can add connections, share insights, increase confidence in doing business, and of course expand market reach. This applies to any type of service or business, no exception social commerce.

As a service that relies on social interaction to reach the market, of course, the community is one of the spearheads of the business social commerce. This was also agreed by Meyer Food's Co-Founder & COO Athalia Permatasari and Evermos Co-Founder Ilham Taufiq who filled the #TuesdayStartup discussion session on Tuesday (24/8).

In this discussion, the Co-Founders shared their experiences about the role of the community in the sustainability of their business. In addition, they also revealed how the pandemic had extraordinary side effects on partners/agents and companies. Here are some points that can be taken from the #TuesdayStartup event in collaboration with Endeavor Indonesia with the topic 101 . scale up: Building the Community.

Cultivate trust and positive impact

Many years have passed since E-commerce growing throughout Indonesia, but there are still people who still don't want to shop using online platforms. They prefer to come to the place and directly assess the products they want to buy. There are several reasons, one of which is distrust.

Ilham admitted that one of the reasons Evermos was formed is to reach consumers who are still reluctant to shop due to a lack of trust in platforms online. Then they try to enter the more conventional market with an extension reseller. That way, trust will begin to grow as consumers enjoy a more modern shopping experience.

Slightly different with service Meyer Foods which is motivated by the family of one of the Co-Founders Renny Lim who is the owner of the business beg chicken meat. The company has a line of Co-Founders women, one of their missions is to empower housewives who also have a desire to be financially independent so that they can use their free time to become reseller chicken meat.

Meyer Food Co-Founder & COO Athalia Permatasari also said, "We believe that women can be the backbone of the economy in the future. So, we focus on creating other success stories, not just earning income. can really have an impact on a lot of people."

Athalia also revealed, "Over the past two years, a very rewarding for Meyer Food is when a business run by a housewife that her husband doesn't approve of at first, can give extraordinary results until it finally earns a lot of income and is also supported by her husband."

Evermos sebagai social commerce which focuses on sharia values, also revealed its strategy to become a business that has an impact with 2R, namely Rupiah and Ruhiyah. Ilham admits that he does not only focus on pragmatic matters, but wants to be more serious about being able to achieve inclusivity. "If it's just an aspect of money, we all know what the startup world is like," he added.

Find partners who have integrity

In a community, even though they have one thing in common, of course there are various kinds of individual characters. Some genuinely want to play a role in building the community, others just join in or participate only when they have free time. There is nothing wrong, but when it comes to the realm of business, this becomes a challenge in itself.

In running its business, Meyer Food implements a partnership with the system profit sharing for each item sold. As a partner / partner is responsible for distribution points and accept COD payments. The challenge arises when there are partners who cannot manage expenses properly so the money from the sale is used for other things.

Learning from the experience, Meyer Food then tightened the curation process for partners. Athalia revealed that her team wants to have a partner who is not only willing to sell but also has integrity and a long-term commitment in running the business. Currently, the service has facilitated as many as 100 partners in the Greater Jakarta area. It may not be a big number but the team ensures that they are quality partners.

While at Evermos, initially the services offered were completely free. But after a while, they finally implemented a curation process with a paid method to see if the partners were serious about selling. However, during the pandemic, these two options are available so as not to make it difficult for partners to sell.

When building a community, we often start from inner circle or the immediate environment. At Meyer Food, their first customer was a neighbor from Athalia. His team admitted that there were many considerations and concerns for this business to work. However, as time goes by and the community grows, challenges can be faced one by one.

Maintaining a strong attachment

The running of a community also depends on good communication and interaction among its members. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, there were many social restrictions that occurred in society. This has more or less effect on the sustainability of the community, and also the business.

When a business already has a strong engagement or attachment to a community, then that community can be a trusted source of feedback. Evermos, as social commerce admitted that he often goes to the field and interacts directly to build a strong bond with the players resellers.

According to Ilham, many partners are being affected psychologically. "In terms of engagement we must be able to understand the need businesses, including being their vent. There we learn again to be better listeners and try to understand the conditions businesses. It's good to put empathy first. This is one of the important points how to make them comfortable and loyal," he added.