Local Startup Bananas Launches 24-Hour Service Throughout Ramadan 2022

A quick commerce startup from Indonesia, Bananas, launched a 24-hour service throughout Ramadan 2022. Thus, the time to shop for daily necessities for fasting needs is more flexible.

This 24-hour service is valid at seven Bananas outlets spread across Jakarta. These include Sudirman, Senayan, Senopati, Kelapa Gading, Sunter, Kuningan, and Pantai Indah Kapuk.

The founder and CEO of Bananas, Mario Gaw, said that since its inception the company has always been committed to carrying out various forms of innovation to meet customer needs.

“With the addition of the outlet’s opening hours to 24 hours, we believe this month of Ramadan will make it easier for customers to prepare for breaking their fast, takjil, and sahur,” said Mario through his statement, Wednesday (13/4/2022).

Not only innovation in operating hours, to complement consumer convenience, this local startup also applies the ‘Alway Fresh’ policy, which is always committed to providing the best product choices for consumers.

If consumers find that the product they receive is not fresh, they can submit a complaint to customer service and then proceed with the refund process according to the terms and conditions stated in the application.

This policy further strengthens the company’s steps to provide the best service for its customers, and of course also differentiates Bananas services from others in the Indonesian quick commerce market.

Data Driven Algorithm

Kristian Sinaulan, Founder & CTO of Bananas, explained that with the opening of the 24-hour service, his party runs a more complex data-based algorithm to be able to study the behavior of customer throughout the day and predict buying behavior based on time and product preferences.

“We also ensure the best shopping experience to increase customer interaction and retention through UI/UX which we continue to improve,” he said.

Bananas also presents product curation to match the various currents. For example, during this Ramadan, Bananas offers a wide selection of products to answer the various needs of consumers for breaking their fast, various takjil choices to the need for preparation for sahur.

To note, quick commerce itself is a method of sending orders in small but fast quantities. Bananas allows customers to shop for thousands of daily necessities quickly in minutes with a wide selection of product variations, fresh, and competitively priced.

“Quick commerce services are still relatively new in Indonesia. However, we see a big opportunity in this groceries market, given the large population of Indonesians and the wide market for daily necessities that have not been explored,” said Mario.

He added that the company wants to create a pleasant shopping experience for consumers and continues to innovate in providing services according to the needs of the community.

Initial Funding

This startup relies on technology-based micro hubs called dark stores to run its business. Dark stores are placed in strategic locations near residential areas which allow the company to deliver ordered products to customers instantly.

Previously, Bananas announced in early February 2022 that it had received an initial funding of US$1 million led by East Ventures, with participation from SMDV, ARISE, MDI Ventures, and several other angel investors.

Not only that, Bananas was also accepted into Y Combinator Winter 2022, so the company received additional funding of US$ 500 thousand, bringing the total initial funding of US$ 1.5 million (approximately Rp 21.5 billion).

“We will focus on this initial funding to encourage business development to be quickly accepted by the market and also to build more dark stores that will provide a wide selection of quality products according to consumer needs,” said Mario.

He said the company is targeting to build more dark stores in strategic locations in Greater Jakarta by the end of this year.