2020-03-01_Forbes_Asia

27

MARCH 2020 FORBES ASIA

TOKOPEDIA’S IMPACT IN

JOBS CREATION AND

REGIONAL ECONOMY

SOURCE: LPEM FEB UI

(ALL FIGURES IN TRILLION RUPIAH)

North Sumatra
21,746
2.79

DKI Jakarta

207,117

16.42

East Kalimantan

0.93

North Sulawesi

0.16

West Java

172,348

11.36

Bali

25,699

0.82

East Java

112,488

West Nusa

Tenggara

3,001

South Sulawesi

7,194

Aceh

0.26

New Jobs

Regional

Economy

2012 2013 2014 2016 2017 2018

C

Undisclosed

Beenos

Partner

D

Undisclosed

Softbank Ventures

Korea

E

$100 million

SoftBank Telecom Corp,

Sequoia Capital and

SoftBank Ventures Korea

E

$147 million

undisclosed

investor

F

$1.1 billion

Alibaba Group

G

$1.1 billion

SoftBank Vision Fund

and Alibaba Group

More than

90 mil

Monthly active users

More than

5 mil

Sellers

Many others followed, not only Alibaba, but
also India’s Sequoia Capital and SoftBank Vi-
sion Fund. One goal eagerly awaited by investors:
profits. “We are confident it will get to break-
even and profits,” says Shailendra Singh, manag-
ing director of Sequoia Capital India, in the “next
few years.”
To get into the black, Tokopedia has been build-
ing its paid services. While the basic service is
free—any seller can register to sell over the site by
submitting just an email address and cell phone
number—the company has offered paid premium
services since 2013. For a fee, these merchants get
perks such as promotions, free shipping and mar-
ket research done by Tokopedia. One tier of mem-
bership, Power Merchants, pay a 1% commission
on all goods sold over the site.
Another initiative, launched last year, was to
combat the problem of counterfeit goods online.
Tokopedia launched its Official Store with the

guarantee that all goods sold through this chan-

nel will be 100% genuine. The charge for this ser-

vice is a hefty 15% sales commission, but in re-

turn merchants get dedicated help from Tokope-

dia and other special services. The Official Store

has signed up 3,000 sellers, and has been par-

ticularly popular with large multinationals that

must protect their brands, such as King Koil,

Procter & Gamble and Samsung.

As Tokopedia enters its second decade, Tanu-

wijaya offers his outlook on how Tokopedia

should evolve. “In the next 10 years, we want to

be a technology company that can help anyone

who wants to be a technology company,” Tanu-

wijaya says. “All businesses in Indonesia will be

a technology company by having Tokopedia as

their partner. That’s our vision.”

This article has been adapted from Forbes Indo-

nesia, a licensee edition of Forbes Media.

Tokopedia sellers

are located in

96% of cities

in Indonesia

96%

TECHNOLOGY