Logistics and delivery player Ninja Van has ridden the blistering growth of Indonesia’s e-commerce marketplaces. Now it’s turning its sights on to the country’s mom-and-pop internet entrepreneurs.
Indonesia’s e-commerce potential is huge: More than half of all the mobile subscribers in Southeast Asia are in Indonesia, with a total of 435 million in 2017, or more than in North America. All four of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce unicorns – Bukalapak, Lazada, Shopee and Tokopedia — are tussling for market share in Indonesia.
The archipelago’s internet economy was estimated at $40 billion in 2019, more than quadrupling since 2015, marking an average growth rate of 49 percent a year, according to a 2019 report from tech behemoth Google, Singapore state-owned investment fund Temasek and consultancy Bain & Co. The report estimated Indonesia’s internet economy would cross US$130 billion by 2025.
In a tie-up likely targeting the last-mile of delivery, ride-hailing giant Grab made an undisclosed investment in Ninja Van in April 2019. The move was set to expand GrabExpress’ delivery services from on-demand, same-day parcel, and courier delivery service to include more options such as nationwide deliveries.
Eric Saputra, the country head for Ninja Van’s Indonesian operations, called Ninja Xpress Indonesia, tells DealStreetAsia about the challenges, and opportunities, of operating in Southeast Asia’s largest market.
Edited excerpts of the interview:-
