Gojek Expects Monthly Food Deliveries to Double This Year to 100m
[Updated at 3:14 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020]
Jakarta. Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa, the company behind Indonesia's app-based ride-hailing and on-demand services Gojek, eyes to deliver 100 million orders per month on its food delivery platform Gofood this year, doubling last year's figure as the company seeks to continue its focus on empowering small businesses.
Gojek's co-chief executive Kevin Aluwi said by the end of 2019, the average completed orders in Gofood were 50 million per month. The number of its customers had also grown 50 percent since 2018.
For 2020, "we can double that at least," Kevin said.
Behind the rapid growth were micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) that account for 96 percent of Gofood's 500,000 merchant partners.
Kevin said the company's priority since its launch in 2015 has always been to partner with MSMEs instead of established brands to help the national economy and create bigger social impacts.
"Before Gofood, plenty of food delivery services were available, but most of them worked with well-known restaurants, which actually made sense because it was safer [for their business]. But our approach was to partner with MSMEs and small restaurants because it would benefit the national economy," Kevin said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Kevin also revealed that while some of their merchant partners were already existing entities prior to Gofood, some of them were purposefully established with the intention to partner and work with Gofood.
Gojek's chief food officer Catherine Hindra Sutjahyo said the cooperation was mutual as Gofood also provides insights and training for their merchant partners to help them develop their business.
Factors that affect a merchant's rating on the Gofood platform is one of the most popular subjects of discussion between the company and its partners. Minor mistakes, such as an updated menu, can create unpleasant experiences for customers which will result in a bad rating.
Market habits and market appetite are other key factors impact sales, Catherine said. She said Gofood merchants have a special platform to communicate and learn from each other about best practices in their business.
Sustainable growth is another focus of the company. To ensure it, Gofood will continue to improve its user experience since customer satisfaction is the key to a business like Gojek's to survive and flourish.
"In the past few years, we've been focusing on offering special deals. Now all three of Gojek's core businesses [Gofood, Goride and Gopay] will focus on improving user experience. We actually started the process in 2018," Kevin said.
Gojek announced in October it was determined to end its "burning money" phase and turn itself into a healthy and profitable business with a plan to go public in the near future.
Gofood has also expanded to Thailand and Vietnam. On the possibility of further expansion, Kevin said they want to focus first on developing the company's products and businesses to explore huge potentials in both countries.
Correction: The article's lead paragraph has been edited to better reflect the content. The Jakarta Globe regrets the error.
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