INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Indonesia has one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the world, but the logistics industry there is still very fragmented,
creating headaches for both vendors and customers
in seed funding from Lightspeed Ventures, Floodgate Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners and Y Combinator (Shipper is part of the
Opamuratawongse and Budi Handoko, and is now used by more than 25,000 online sellers
more than 17,500 islands, of which 600 are inhabited) and unlike the United States, where Amazon dominates, e-commerce sellers often use
multiple platforms, like Tokopedia, Shopee, Bukalapak and Lazada
Smaller vendors also sell through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other social media
Once an order has been placed, the challenge of making sure it gets to customers starts
In addition to a package pick-up service and fulfillment centers, Shipper also has a technology stack to help logistics providers manage
It is used to predict the best shipping routes and consolidate packages headed in the same direction and also provides a multi-carrier API
that allows sellers to manage orders, print shipping labels and get tracking information from multiple providers on their phones.When it
launched three years ago, Shipper began by focusing on the last-mile for smaller vendors, who Opamuratawongse says typically keep inventory
in their homes and fulfill about five to 10 orders per day
Since many give customers a choice of several logistics providers, that meant they needed to visit multiple drop-off locations every
morning.Shipper offers pick-up service performed by couriers (who Opamuratawongse says are people like stay-at-home parents who want
flexible, part-time work) who collect packages from several vendors in the same neighborhood and distribute them to different logistics
providers, serving as micro-fulfillment hubs
other.The company began setting up fulfillment centers to keep up with vendors whose businesses were growing and were turning to third-party
Shipper has established 10 fulfillment centers so far across Indonesia, including Jakarta, with plans to open a new one about every two
weeks until it covers all of Indonesia.Opamuratawongse says he expects the logistics industry in Indonesia to remain fragmented for the next
Shipper will focus on expanding in Indonesia first, with the goal of having 1,000 microhubs within the next year and 15 to 20 fulfillment
Then the company plans to tackle other Southeast Asian countries with rapidly-growing e-commerce markets, including Thailand, Vietnam and
