A serial entrepreneur, Buddy Handako spent over 10 years in Australia building several e-commerce and e-payment platforms before returning to his home country of Indonesia in 2015.
“I saw that e-commerce is growing rapidly in Indonesia, and digital payment services are also emerging. However, there were still many problems in logistics. For example, sellers have to go to the distribution counter, fill out some forms and wait in line. As e-commerce grows, this can become a big problem if not properly addressed. It could be a problem, Handako said. CASIA.
In the year In 2016, he started building a logistics aggregator platform called Shipper with co-founder Phil Opamuratawongse. In the year Officially launched in 2017, the platform provides a dashboard that allows e-commerce sellers to find affordable shipping services, manage shipments and track the status of shipments from multiple suppliers on a single dashboard.
High shipping costs are a barrier to mass e-commerce adoption, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), so Shipper wants to help online sellers “grow their business with reliable logistics services at an affordable price,” Handako explained.
“In addition to SMEs, we work with many corporations, including major third-party logistics (3PLs) companies who can use our agent network. Our overall service has become more complex with features such as cashless orders, loyalty points and more,” he added.
Expansion into warehousing services.
The startup decided to tap warehouse services in 2018, after experiencing a steady “double-digit growth rate,” Handaco said.
“As the e-commerce industry matures, we believe that the number of buyers will increase, and so will the number of products traded. Sellers will eventually need more storage space, so we have responded to our demand by providing dropshipping warehouses,” explained Handaco.
Shipper is currently available in 70 cities in Indonesia, with around 2,500 logistics providers, 50 fulfillment centers and 25,000 online sellers on its platform.
As the Covid-19 pandemic has affected all sectors of economic activity, including the logistics sector globally, the company has experienced reduced warehouse activity as some of its fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) factories have temporarily shut down. However, Shipper reported an increase in demand for last-mile delivery, particularly for retail products such as medical equipment and donation items.
The outbreak also forced the company to adjust some of its plans, including extending its expansion into new markets such as Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. “These three countries face similar logistical challenges in Indonesia, and we have established relationships with several local partners. The plan is still there and we will look at it again next year.
However, Shipper in 2010 million, basis Crunchbase.
Increase in targeted purchases
In September, Shipper partnered with digital payment platform Dana for a new logistics service called Dana Delivery, which allows sellers to place orders through the Dana platform and pay using Dana’s mobile wallet service.
In October, Shipper acquired local storage startup Packet and last-mile delivery company Porter. The acquisition will allow Shipper to offer e-commerce sellers additional warehousing and fulfillment solutions beyond its core shipping solution, the company announced. Shipper aims to increase the number of fulfillment centers to 200 and the agent network to 10,000 agents by the end of 2021.
Read more: Indonesian shipper buys local logistics companies Porter & Packet
The logistics technology sector is booming in Indonesia as several startups in this sector have attracted significant investment in the past two years. Besides the shipper, other startups that received new funding are Cargo, Waresix and Logisly. Handoko is confident that the industry will continue to grow as competition increases over the next few years.
“Logistics is a dynamic sector. There are at least 60 different logistics departments and each has efficiency issues. Logistics technology is still in its infancy so the potential for growth is very high. I think with a lot of money going into this industry, there will be a lot of players targeting specific areas of the supply chain.
“Furthermore, the government is currently attracting foreign investors to open factories in Indonesia, so we will have more supply of goods, which will be more opportunities for logistics companies,” Hanoko added.
In the short term, the company will continue to develop its products and service offerings, Handoko hopes to reach profitability soon.
“We have the playbook for the two core businesses, and we’ve scaled them up to the level we need. So it’s time to hit profitability,” he said.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Startup Stories” series, where KrASIA writers talk to founders of tech companies in South and Southeast Asia.
