Business Expansion Beyond Indonesia
82Cart is a Jakarta based technology company focusing on providing E-commerce solutions. Established since 2010, they now hope to expand to other countries as well, specifically in Singapore. 82Cart is considered to be in the Web Design & Development Industry. They would be categorized as the early majority in this industry.
With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, it has accelerated the growth of the ecommerce industry. There is an increasing number of people shopping online as evident from the proliferation of smartphone usage. Mobile consumers are rising quickly, reducing the number of internet users on desktop platforms. Now, the generation will focus on websites and applications for mobile platforms. Hence, more companies are turning towards online or hybrid business models resulting in the growing trend in digitalization and prioritise having a mobile friendly business website or webstore.
82Cart needs to find out what is necessary to prepare to market their business in Singapore. They wish to explore different possibilities such as: having an offsite service and still be based in Jakarta or opening a new office in Singapore. They also want to know the things that they need to pay attention to such as: licenses, cost, tax, and other requirements. They require a marketing strategy, research, expansion steps, behaviour, and ticket size.
To recommend to 82cart on their expansion plan to Singapore, the student team conducted research on marketing campaigns, economic feasibility, cost benefit analysis, SWOT analysis, survey on product feasibility, design thinking to empathize with potential or existing customers, laboratory testing, etc. They conducted a survey to understand (empathize with) the intended target customers for 82cart: physical store owners, online store owners and start-up founders. They got 40 responses. After collating and analysing the data, they found out that the pricing model is the most important factor when it comes to deciding which e-commerce platform to use. They further investigated selection of payment gateway factors: cost, security and pay-outs. They evaluated Paypal, Stripe, WorldPay Singapore, eNETS, Red Dot payment and Asia Pay.
Through the requirements and guidance provided by 82cart management, the team can analyze their findings and compile a list of recommendation for 82cart. The recommendation center around how to expand to Singapore, what payment gateway to use, and how to integrate with their website. In addition, the team explore grants available for companies opening ecommerce website in Singapore, social media promotions, and advertisements to gain customers.
Students learn to understand the needs of an Indonesia startup looking to expand overseas. They conducted survey and research to understand the market ecosystem, needed technology and customer sentiment. Using these data, student can recommend various market and technology strategies with data as evidence. Aside from the technical analysis, student interact with startup founders and management to understand the culture, goals, and motivation of a startup company. This is important when comparing the mindset with Singapore startups and opportunities to expand into Indonesia.
"I have learned many useful soft-skills such as communications between the client and the team. As the client was based off overseas, we are unable to meet in person to gather the requirements. I have also learned that expanding business overseas was not easy as there is a need to know the current market / competitors in the country. This helps me learn how to plan and start a business overseas." - Student from the IS404 course