Reinforcing Tokopedia’s Ecosystem for Indonesian Parents
Geographically, Indonesia comprises a chain of islands and vast swathes of land. Although the Tokopedia ecosystem is accessible in 99% of all districts across Indonesia, one of our goals is to ensure that everyone can get the same quality products and service experience no matter where they are. This is a crucial element to be considered by all Nakama, as two important stakeholders of Tokopedia are involved: our buyers and sellers.
If you recall, we published an article about Tokopedia’s Mom and Baby, Home and Living Category in 2021, highlighting a valuable team that strives to offer a one-stop solution for all parents in Indonesia. Recently, we had the opportunity to talk with Ramadhan Niendraputra, Head of Category Development at Tokopedia, and discuss their plans for 2022.
Let’s see what they have in store for us as they strive to make Tokopedia even more accessible for parents across Indonesia!
Empowering sellers and boosting their performance
Our founders have always emphasized that Tokopedia’s primary function and purpose is to bridge or connect buyers and sellers through one platform where they can meet, transact, and answer each other’s needs and wants. This has become the heart of the Mom and Baby team’s mission, strategies, and goals.
To realize this, the team has three measures planned. The first is to dedicate a section for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), new sellers, and existing sellers located outside of Greater Jakarta. This allows buyers to navigate the available array of sellers easily based on their preference, whether they’d like to explore products by new sellers, go all local by purchasing products from homegrown brands, or buy from sellers in their own area to get cheaper shipping and fast delivery services.
Secondly, growth is a major aspect the team is aiming for. Hence, brand incubation and partnerships with sellers in the initial or mid stages of their business allow the team to help sellers grow inside Tokopedia’s ecosystem. This includes onboarding them to campaigns under the Mom and Baby category, educating them on seller features, and helping them in product marketing. Last but not least, communicating and providing insights to sellers on the latest trends and consumer demand for them to stay updated.
Ensuring a good buyer experience
It is important for the team to be highly empathetic and sensitive toward buyers’ needs by actively seeking and taking in their feedback. The team does this through the Tokopedia Parents Community, which aims to create conversations among parents in Indonesia. Rama explains that the community provides the team with many useful insights to stay relevant to buyers. Moreover, conversation points are also useful for us to stay updated on the latest trends and enable the team to recommend the best products according to parents’ needs.
Internally, the team conducts regular internal checks to ensure the most up-to-date product selection in the category. To create an even more seamless journey for both sellers and buyers, it onboards local suppliers from all around the country and connects them with Dilayani Tokopedia, Tokopedia’s smart fulfillment center, to utilize their infrastructure. This allows the products to be well-distributed throughout the archipelago, without limitation.
Connecting and educating Indonesian parents through Tokopedia Parents Community
Whether you’re a working parent or a stay-at-home parent, one of the biggest challenges is to stay updated with the latest information and needs related to your children and parenting demands. In this digital age, you can get this information through endless channels and sources, but which of them is accurate and reliable?
In Indonesia, we have a strong culture of sharing within our community. Family and friend referrals are considered by Indonesians the most trusted sources of information. The reason is that we are more trusting of the information or products somebody else has experienced first-hand; thus, their testimony is seen as more credible.
With this in mind, the Mom & Baby team created the Tokopedia Parents Community. With more than 5,000 active members, the community is a place where parents can share their experiences and information, what children’s items they find helpful, what they did when their children experience certain health issues, and so on. The team also has plans to make the community even more inclusive as they found that more dads in Indonesia are becoming more active and engaged as parents.
Being the support system of all parents in Indonesia
As moms and dads, some aspects of parenting can be particularly hard to navigate. However, having someone — like family, friends, or coworkers — supporting you can make your journey much easier. Rama believes that by staying consistent in these efforts, Tokopedia, through the Tokopedia Parents Community and our Mom and Baby sellers, can offer an ecosystem that helps parents in Indonesia through every parenting phase. So, let’s boost our support for one another, and feel free to join our ecosystem and be part of the Tokopedia Parents Community!
