JakPat aims to undercut and outrun firms like McKinsey in Indonesia

One of the most valuable things for startups in emerging markets like Indonesia is consumer insights. No matter what size they are, companies need data to justify their business moves in a place with so many unproven business models. Those with deep pockets and time to spare will end up turning to research firms like McKinsey and Company, Accenture, or Bain and Company for pre-product rationales. But if you’re a scrappy tech startup in Jakarta, JakPat may be the best way to go.

JakPat, which is short for Jajak Pendapat (Opinion Poll), is a mobile app that lets companies survey a pool of segmented Indonesians and view their responses in real time. “Market research takes time and is costly,” says JakPat CEO Anggit Tut Pinilih. “Our open survey platform is like an automated market research machine that provides a one-stop service.”

According to Pinilih, her business model has seen success in places like South Korea and the US, which is what encouraged her to build a similar startup in Indonesia. Pinilih and her team recently showcased JakPat at Startup Asia Jakarta 2014.

See: Japanese market research startup gets $2.2 million funding

Getting calibrated

Pinilih says the idea behind JakPat was to make the process of gathering consumer insights more efficient and accessible for those with low budgets. For the most part, this includes startups, SMEs, and students. JakPat has a 10 percent response rate per minute, says Pinilih, which means if a company is looking to target 1,000 people with a survey, it would have about 100 respondents within 10 minutes. According to her, JakPat is 100 times cheaper than traditional market research, which can range anywhere between US$10,000 to $100,000 depending on the specifics and size of the focus group. JakPat’s cheapest option starts at US$50 for polling 100 respondents with five questions.

To get set up, companies or marketers make an account to gain access to JakPat’s dashboard. From there, they have the options to select market segments and create surveys. After surveys go out, users can see the responses as they come in, then port the final report to an Excel spreadsheet or PDF file. To become a survey respondent, users must first download and install the app from Google Play or the App Store. Before they can start filling out surveys, they must complete a JakPat profile which establishes their basic demographic and lifestyle behaviors. This is the crucial ingredient which helps pollers identify the right segments and choose the appropriate demographic to send their surveys to.

JakPat provides a reward-based incentive for Indonesians to become survey respondents. Pinilih says:

Each time they work on a survey, they get points. Once they reach certain amounts, the points can be redeemed as pulsa (mobile phone credit) [… ], LINE coins, or vouchers for things like McDonald and KFC. They can also join lucky draws for concert tickets to famous performances.

The more surveys a JakPat user takes, the higher their level becomes within the system, and the more points they receive per survey.

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