Indonesian eCommerce firm Blibli.com ventures into physical retail scene

Indonesian eCommerce company Blibli.com has entered into the retail scene with its first retail store for BlibliMart, the company's grocery brand. The store provides cashless services by allowing users to pay using Blipay on the Blibli.com app or Gojek's GoPay, The Jakarta Post reported. Consumers, however, are still required to check out with an employee to prevent theft.

The new store will form an offline presence complementing BlibliMart's online grocery store. According to The Jakarta Post, the shopping experience was inspired by Amazon Go in the US, which offers cashless and cashier-less services at its retail stores. According to Blibli.com's VP of development Sherwin Sasmita, the company leverages online consumer data to predict consumers' product preferences near the store to make sure that there is availability of suitable product selection and stock, The Jakarta Post reported.

Meanwhile quoting Blibli.com senior vice president of trade partnership Fransisca Krisantia Nugraha, The Jakarta Post said that omnichannel shoppers form 66% of shoppers. As such the retail store is designed to help Blibli.com reach this target market. She added that the new store registered over 1,000 orders daily during its closed test run last November.

Blibli.com intends to triple the 313% order growth and double the 227% gross merchandise value that BlibliMart registered online last year with the addition of retail stores, Nugraha said. Additionally, the company is eyeing a 600% product growth in 2020 and an 82% merchant increase annually. To do so, The Jakarta Post reported that Blibli.com will double down on its online service by offering scheduled delivery, in-store pickup services, and product subscription through tie-ups with third-party retailers. Marketing Interactive has reached out to Blibli.com for comment.