Indonesia's Bukalapak signs up family businesses as it seeks to connect offline and online shopping
- With just over half of Indonesians connected to the internet, Bukalapak see the offline space as an important channel to bring more consumers online
- After its funding round last November the company declared it was a unicorn with a valuation exceeding US$1 billion
Indonesia, with its population of 240 million, is a key battleground for e-commerce players looking to cater to the country’s growing middle-class. But local e-commerce company Bukalapak is eyeing growth by targeting offline consumers – some of whom may not even own smartphones.
The Jakarta-based company, whose name translates as “open a stall”, is banking on a network of over 300,000 family-run stores to help bring more customers onto its platform.
Bukalapak, which started out as a consumer-to-consumer e-commerce platform similar to Alibaba’s Taobao, is one of several e-commerce companies in Indonesia competing for the wallets of customers. Bukalapak allows users to register and open a shop online, and also works with brands to sell products to its consumers.
However, with only 55 per cent of the Indonesian population connected to the internet, companies like Bukalapak see the offline space as an important channel to bring more consumers online – even if they do not know how to make payments online or have never engaged in e-commerce before.
Offline, Bukalapak works with some 300,000 warungs, which are small, family-owned convenience kiosks that sell daily necessities, or restaurants selling local food. Customers without internet experience who want to buy something on Bukalapak can approach warung owners for help in placing their orders online. The buyers then pay cash to the warung for the ordered item.
