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Column[Indonesia] Leading company launches direct sales to manufacturers using Whats App
Against the backdrop of the request to refrain from going out, the use of electronic commerce (EC) is rapidly increasing in the metropolitan area, especially in Jakarta. Now a lot of supermarkets offer online stores, and it seems that for consumers visiting actual "places" and buy products is no longer necessary. In other words, for manufactures there is no need to have "spaces" to sell their products any more. Recently, many manufacturers in Indonesia have started the “directly-managed online stores”. What's unique about it is that they utilize offline and instant messenger application WhatsApp (WA) instead of using the existing e-commerce system.
One of the reasons behind this is the popularity of WhatsApp in Indonesia: according to a self-studied survey conducted by INTAGE in 2020 among 20-49 year olds in Jakarta, approximately 94.5% of the respondents used WhatsApp, which is the highest usage rate among various SNS applications.
Usage rate of smartphone apps_Indonesia
Report from: https://bit.ly/2GCL4XC
Respondent criteria:
• Males and females 20~49 years old living in major cities of each countries
• People with a certain level of purchasing power or above (with footnote conditions set by household income and monthly income
Usage rate of smartphone apps_Indonesia
WINGS, a conglomerate that deals in everything from home care products to food products, has launched a WA delivery service, although it is limited to Surabaya City. Customers can browse through the catalog and contact a representative in WA to complete their shopping without going to the store. Enesis, one of the leading hygiene products companies, has also launched a WA online delivery service, and in the case of buying and selling through WA, the payment method is often a bank transfer, as it allows the customer to communicate in real time. After the bank transfer, the payment is usually made by sending the payment screen to the customer via WA.
Strategies for attracting age groups that do not normally use e-commerce
Jakarta and several other cities in Indonesia have imposed extensive social restrictions, prohibiting store operations and office work outside of certain industries. In addition, requests for self-restraint and fear of COVID-19 have led to a growing trend of people purchasing necessary items by delivery instead of going out as much as possible. Some manufacturers are stepping up direct sales, believing that there is no need to place products in stores as long as they can complete their shopping without going to the store. Direct sales by manufacturers have existed in the past, but what makes it unique is that it takes a form similar to person-to-person "support mail order" in WA. In Indonesia, e-commerce is widespread, but it cannot be said that all age groups are using it yet. With WA, on the other hand, about 90% of smartphone users are using it, making it possible to reach almost all age groups. Existing supermarkets are targeting all age groups, and they seem to be using WA as a delivery strategy to attract a demographic that cannot be reached by e-commerce alone.
This article is co-authored by TNC Lifestyle Researcher (http://lifestyle.tenace.co.jp/) and Intage's Global Researcher.
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Author profile
TNC ASIA Trend Lab
TNC ASIA Trend Lab is an information organization run by TNC Inc. that researches and shares trends in Asia. It supports corporate marketing activities by finding insights from trends rooted in the lifestyles and habits of local consumers.
http://tnc-trend.jp/ -
Editor profile
Mr. Yang Yan
A Chinese researcher living in Japan, sharing the life styles of consumers overseas, mainly in China.
- Jun 08, 2020
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