Hi. It’s Brady again.
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re in a major city. Your internet connection, by phone or cable, is likely steady and strong. New apps can be downloaded with a few taps. New services are available to you every day. Convenience is matter-of-fact. Everything fits in your pocket.
Much of this accessibility is subsidized. So many tech companies run in the red to imbue habits in us, to glue their names to our behaviors, and that means they’ll have to raise prices sooner or later, and free services may no longer be free—but that’s a story for another day.
What my colleague Khamila dug into yesterday is how a consumer-facing company that is big, but not the biggest, must acclimate and reorient itself when its leading competitors are far ahead. She zoomed in on Indonesian e-commerce company Bukalapak.
With Tokopedia and Shopee eclipsing everyone else in visitor traffic, Bukalapak set its sights on smaller cities and rural areas, where its Mitra program takes micro-retailers online. That’s not to say it’s a blue ocean for Bukalapak; there is nothing unique about its offerings. Gojek and Tokopedia both have similar programs, giving GoTo a sizable footprint in this arena.
Ahead of its listing on the IDX meant to take place by the end of July, Bukalapak’s path to profitability remains unclear. Will it cultivate an impregnable presence outside of Indonesia’s major cities if the company moves aggressively and quickly? It might just have to.
Daily Roundup
- Dingdong Maicai downsizes US IPO by more than 70% after MissFresh flops.
- Carousell may command a USD 1.5 billion valuation with a SPAC merger in the United States.
- aCommerce explores Thai IPO while it claims the same crown as e-commerce enabler SCI Ecommerce.
- Three Wheels United is putting more electric rickshaws on India’s roads.
- Sequoia-backed neobank Jupiter acquires personal finance platform EasyPlan.
- XTransfer digitizes more than payments with its new CRM platform.
- Here are five things you need to know about the chip crunch and China’s pursuit of semiconductors.
- Fast vaccinations and easy money spell boom times for entrepreneurs.