SEA startups nurturing the mom and baby care industry

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Hi there,

I’m often surprised that my sisters don’t really use online resources or technology to help them raise their children.

However, that is not the case for many digital-savvy parents in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia these days.

The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up hidden potential within the parenting ecommerce industry. Funding to mom and baby care startups has been accelerating. Companies are rushing to meet the demand from parents in both products and parenting content.

This new content-to-commerce strategy, as my colleague Jofie points out in this week’s Big Story, can be a game changer for vertical players like Orami in Indonesia to compete with the likes of Shopee or Tokopedia.

Speaking of game changers, that might be the right way to describe Mitra Bukalapak, the unit that has contributed the most in terms of revenue to Indonesian ecommerce giant Bukalapak.

For this week’s Hot Take, I examine the firm’s latest financial report to find out whether the numbers really reflect the whole picture.

– Budi

(Note: The Checkout will be on hiatus next week as we head off to a company offsite in Bali. See you the week after!)

THE BIG STORY

Baby boom: SEA’s mom and baby care startups meld content with commerce

Image credit: Timmy Loen

These startups’ community-centric approach banks on long-term customer loyalty. Can that fend off the ecommerce giants?

THE HOT TAKE

Mitra Bukalapak remains strong, but profits are another matter

NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW