This startup lets Indonesians get their hands on rare goods from different countries

Yuwono Wicaksono, founder of the pint-sized, Jakarta-based ecommerce site GudangImpor, wants his budding company to become the hub for Indonesian shoppers looking for overseas products. Compared to the local ecommerce giants that can utilize Rocket Internet funding and enjoy sophisticated infrastructure, GudangImpor looks much more like a mom-and-pop shop; the embodiment of a localized micro business making good in Indonesia.

“Yes, Zalora and Lazada are the biggest ecommerce businesses here today, but we are targeting a different market from them. They are a whole different segment and have different users actually,” explains Wicaksono, a 28-year-old electrical engineering graduate from the University of Indonesia.

GudangImpor’s product categories include fashion, hobbies, home decor, beauty products, electronics, and children’s toys. Its clothing section features brands like H&M, Playboy, Tommy Hilfiger, and Kate Spade, while other categories offer names like LEGO, IKEA, and Furby (the ambiguous talking animal toy that was a bona fide Christmas craze for western children of past decades).

Wicaksono and his partner Falah Wijaya, who joined the project just last year after graduating from the University of Queensland’s IT department, say their site only has around 5,000 registered users and 8,000 followers on Instagram at the moment. Those numbers are miniscule when pitted against bullish stats from Tokopedia or Bukalapak. But Wicaksono claims that the sharp contrast is an apples-to-oranges comparison, as GudangImpor is structured around a more niche target audience. “This month we’ve had a total of 200 orders [but] we can get more margins because we sell rare products in Indonesia. We want our customer to have the experience of ‘buying overseas.”

See: Ahead of Rocket Internet IPO, here are the numbers on its Southeast Asian ecommerce stores

According to Wicaksono, importing purchased goods to Indonesia has many obstacles. He cites online shopping overseas as a painful process for most Indonesians, as buyers will always be charged additional shipping, customs, and handling fees. Often these fees can amount to more than what the item itself costs, which in the end makes little sense in the eyes of local consumers. Additionally, many Indonesian credit cards can not be accepted by overseas vendors for direct purchases. Wicaksono says these are all problems GudangImpor aims to solve for its customers.

He reveals his strategy for mitigating logistics costs by shipping in bulk: “In this business, the more you ship from overseas, the more you can reduce operational costs because consolidation packages will give you an 80 percent profit compared to shipping it as single package.” GudangImpor does not warehouse its merchandise, but does keep a small stock of items that it sees are in constant demand, such as popular clothing brands for both men and women.

As a bootstrapped venture with limited resources and infrastructure, it shouldn’t be surprising to see that GudangImpor’s weakness is a lack of selection. The books, music, travel, and automotive categories are completely empty on the website, and the categories that do have products are still quite limited and lack cohesion. Wicaksono claims a larger catalogue will roll out some time in the near future as he must continue growing his company’s network. He also admits that he currently doesn’t work on GudangImpor full-time. He explains, “So, I work for GudangImpor after that. But I still enjoy it.”

GudangImpor is now looking to scale up operations via new investors who can bring financing but also outside skills and expertise in the ecommerce realm. Wicaksono says, “We are looking for partners and investors who have the same passion as we do.”

The post This startup lets Indonesians get their hands on rare goods from different countries appeared first on Tech in Asia.

This startup lets Indonesians get their hands on rare goods from different countries