Shipper Logistics Startup Targets Papuan Market to Boost Transactions

Logistics aggregator startup Shipper has recorded a six-fold increase in business growth since the beginning of the year. One of them is because of the current e-commerce trend.

Shipper has also prepared two strategies to boost larger transactions next year. The first step is to strengthen markets outside Java, one of which is Papua.

“One of the things we are exploring is the Jayapura market, Papua,” said Indonesian Shipper Operations Director Budi Handoko at the 2021 Regional Summit event on Monday (29/11).

Currently, Shipper has operated in 35 cities in Indonesia, some of which are included in tier 2 or tier 3 cities such as Banjarmasin, Manado, Jambi, Lampung, Pasuruan, and Kediri.

Therefore, the company will expand its territory to the city to overcome challenges in the logistics sector. “We are thinking about how to get customers in other areas to get products at affordable prices,” said Budi.

The second strategy is to expand the service to the delivery of building materials. “In addition to serving e-commerce requests to ship goods, we plan for example to serve large goods, such as building goods, such as cement,” said Budi.

Meanwhile, Shipper’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Jessica Hendrawidjaja said that one of the variables driving business growth was the increasing number of partner networks such as e-commerce and online merchants.

“We are enablers who support business development. So, when they (e-commerce and online merchants) grow, we also benefit,” Jessica said last October (14/10).

Has Received Series B Funding

In addition, another shipper business growth motor is the rapid growth of warehouses. They currently have 300 warehouses in 35 cities, a rapid increase from 20 warehouses in early 2020.

Shipper has also secured Series B funding of US$ 63 million or equivalent to Rp 903 billion led by DST Global Partners and Sequoia Capital India this year. The fresh funds were obtained less than a year after obtaining Series A funding in June 2020.

Head of External Affairs Shipper Wilson Andrew said, Shipper will use the funding for two main things, namely investment in systems and technology, as well as adding to the operational network.

They will also increase the scope of warehouses, expedition partners, and develop the export shipping market or international shipping. “We initially focused on Asia,” said Wilson.

Digital Technology and Startups Can Reduce Logistics Costs

Logistics costs in Indonesia are still high, which are among the most expensive compared to neighboring countries. Digital technology and the emergence of logistics startups have the opportunity to overcome the problem of logistics costs.

Expert Staff to the Minister for Logistics, Multimodal, and Transportation Safety CrisKuntadi said, there are three factors that cause Indonesia’s logistics costs to be expensive.

First, the infrastructure is still not evenly distributed. Second, the delivery system between various regions has not been balanced. Third, the mode of transportation that still relies on land transportation.

According to him, the digitization of the logistics sector is able to streamline the data-based goods delivery system. “So, we created the National Logistic Ecosystem (NLE). In that ecosystem, shipping data has been summarized digitally,” said Cris.

Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Logistics and Forwarder Association (ALFI) DPP, Trismawan Sanjaya also said that digitization would make it easier for logistics players to arrange the delivery of goods.

“The data that has been summarized will be made into a scheme and the demand and supply can be predicted,” he said. That way, logistics costs will be cheaper.

Logistics players can also take advantage of a number of digital technologies to streamline the delivery of goods. IoT, for example, allows sensors to be attached to objects that are sent.

Thus, wherever the goods are located, they will transfer their position signal from the factory, port, to the country of destination, which can be detected immediately. In addition to IoT, there is also AI that functions to analyze the data summarized by logistics actors.