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Being based in Singapore all my life, the concept of arisan is one that I needed to wrap my head around.
Those who live in Indonesia would be familiar with this practice of rotational savings, where groups of women – usually housewives between the ages of 30 and 45 – routinely pool a nominal sum of savings. Each month, a lottery determines a winner, who takes home the entire pot of funds.
The social component and the “game of chance” element are key attractions of arisan.
In this week’s Big Story, my colleague Jofie dives into this traditional practice – that many in Indonesia still partake in today – in his profile of Mapan. The firm, which was acquired by Gojek in 2017 and later spun out to become an independent company, applies the concept of arisan to social commerce.
Instead of receiving money, participants choose from Mapan’s catalog of 1,000 household and other products and contribute an “installment” payment. The winner takes home their product of choice and the cycle repeats.
The firm is certainly on to something: last year, it saw a 3x growth in revenue.
Things are looking less certain over at buy now, pay later firm Zip, as I discuss in this week’s Hot Take. Following an aggressive acquisition spree, it is now looking to shed most of its assets in several markets to achieve positive cash flow by the first half of 2024.
Zip, Australia’s second largest BNPL firm following Afterpay, has seen its share price fall from its 2021 highs of A$14.5 (US$9.74) to A$0.53 (US$0.36) as market sentiment shifts away from the once red-hot sector.
With rising interest rates, inflation, and macroeconomic uncertainty dampening spending, as well as more regulation to come in its home market, is Zip’s downsizing enough to turn things around?
— Melissa
THE BIG STORY
This social commerce firm digitalized ‘arisan’ and grew revenue 3x
Image credit: Timmy Loen
THE HOT TAKE
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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