Sirclo Has Pocketed Transactions of More than IDR 1 Trillion

E-commerce-enabler company, Sirclo claims to have succeeded in pocketing gross merchandise value (GMV) or company transactions that reached more than IDR 1 trillion during 2020. This achievement is inseparable from the accelerated growth of the e-commerce industry when the Covid-19 pandemic hit Indonesia.

The growth is estimated to reach 91 percent (from year to year) and recorded 12 million new users. Brian Marshal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sirclo, said online shopping habits have increased during the pandemic, and most will survive that way, but consumers are basically excited about the choice.

“With the hope that the pandemic situation will subside after the vaccines are distributed in Indonesia, we see that the offline shopping method will stretch again, because consumers miss physical experiences as a means of refreshing outside the home,” Brian said through his statement, Thursday (7/1/2021).

He said this phenomenon was a crucial moment for brands to present the best omnichannel experience for consumers, not only by being online and offline, but also by integrating their online and offline assets so that consumers get a seamless experience.

The omnichannel solutions offered by Sirclo enable businesses to provide a seamless shopping experience for consumers. For example, businesses can fulfill consumer orders by taking stock from the nearest physical store, thus shortening the distribution chain.

Consumers are also introduced to the concept of “Online shopping, pick up goods at the store”, “Online shopping, orders sent from the store”, or “Return goods to the store”. These new concepts make consumers more comfortable, because they can search for products and compare specifications online, then see products in person at the nearest physical store.

Sirclo Initiatives in 2020

As a company that is engaged in the heart of the industry – connecting brands with consumers and an e-commerce platform – Sirclo has taken several initiatives to strengthen its services to meet the increasing demand from both sides. In early 2020, the company launched Sirclo Chat in response to the rapidly increasing trend of buying and selling on WhatsApp (chat commerce).

This solution allows sellers to integrate and display product catalogs in the WhatsApp chat room, so consumers can make direct purchases without leaving the application. Then in June 2020, Sirclo announced a merger with Icube, an e-commerce technology solutions agency that is a Magento Premier Solutions Partner.

This merger aims to unite the strengths of both parties, in order to help more MSMEs and medium to large-scale brands that require effective and efficient digital transformation in the realm of e-commerce.

Then in August 2020, a month after its 7th-anniversary celebrations, Sirclo announced the achievement of series B funding of US$ 6 million (around IDR 88 billion). The injection of funds is used to continuously strengthen internal infrastructure so that Sirclo can accommodate business players who are increasingly plunging into the realm of e-commerce.

The Company’s Target in 2021

By 2021, Sirclo aims to increase its business by at least two to three times compared to 2020. The company, which has more than 600 employees, continues to strengthen its team by actively recruiting, even in the midst of a pandemic.

Sirclo is increasingly optimistic that business will be better. Moreover, Imf predicts that Indonesia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow promising up to 6.1%. Meanwhile, the results of the Business Fund Activity Survey (SKDU) conducted by Bank Indonesia also showed improvement in all economic sectors since Q3/2020.

Since implementing the Work From Home (WFH) system at the start of the pandemic, the company has held a series of virtual activities, both to support team performance within the company, as well as webinar-based training aimed at boosting business communities affected by the pandemic situation.

One of the series of webinars that have been run is the “Sirclo Academy” training program, which is aimed at students and the entrepreneur community who aspire to be successful in selling online.