And all of it was driven by a consistent approach to innovation. None of this was easy, immediate or by accident. How do we balance growth, and the need to invest? How do we make sure that our talent can support that growth? How do we ensure that the national infrastructure supports logistics, and that the ecosystem matures in step with the business?”Īnd so, Tokopedia has placed itself at the forefront of supporting digitalisation, removing as many friction points as possible. Speaking of the impact these shrinking timelines have on digitalisation in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest market, Herman said, “It pushes us. Vice President at Tokopedia said, “7 out of 10 Tokopedia merchants experienced 133% increase in sales volume, and 68.6% of sellers who joined Tokopedia during the pandemic were the sole breadwinners of the family.” The new merchants come not just from areas where Tokopedia expected to see a boom – Jakarta and Java, but from provinces like Bali, Central and South Sulawesi.Īnd while traditional trade is still dominant in Indonesia, ecommerce penetration is now on a clear growth trajectory and has a lot of room to expand.įrom the US to China and India, the time taken for a market to attain digital maturity is shrinking. That number shot up to over 11 million through 2021, with the changes brought about by the pandemic acting as an accelerant. It took the firm a decade to get over 6 million merchants on its platform. Today, Tokopedia has over a 100 million active users every month, over 11 million merchants, and covers 99% of the sub-districts of Indonesia.
Over a decade later, there is ample evidence that a rapid shift is underway. Technology was regarded with suspicion or ignored entirely, and commerce was rooted in geography, with traditional trade dominating the landscape. When Tokopedia, an Indonesia-based technology company with the largest marketplace platform first came up with its vision of “democratising commerce through technology”, there were few takers. From its early efforts to woo a technology and ecommerce averse Indonesian population, to its most recent forays into an AI-driven bespoke offering for its customers, a culture of innovation has been a constant at Tokopedia