Exclusive: Webuy acquires Indonesian social commerce rival, starts offering travel deals

Singapore-based Webuy is acquiring the assets of Indonesia social commerce startup Chilibeli for an undisclosed sum as the group-buying platform ramps up its B2C ecommerce offering in the archipelago.

In an exclusive interview with Tech in Asia, Webuy CEO Vincent Xue said that under the share-swap deal, the company will take control of all of Chilibeli’s assets, including its brand, database, software, agents, and customers.

Photo credit: Webuy

The acquisition is currently pending legal approval and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. Chilibeli will keep its brand name in Indonesia at the moment but will soon rebrand to Webuy, Xue says.

Founded in 2019, Chilibeli mainly sells fresh fruits and vegetables as well as household items. Built on the social connections of homemakers, the platform connects consumers, farmers, and suppliers in Indonesia’s Tier 1 to 3 cities through a network of over 10,000 agents also known as mitras.

In Webuy’s business model, agents – also called “group leaders” – play a key role in notifying group members of promotions via WhatsApp chats and giving recommendations as well as in service recovery and last-mile distribution.

Webuy’s group-buying community in its three markets – Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia – comprises 15,000 agents and 500,000 registered customers. Acquiring Chilibeli, which has over 150,000 registered end-users, fast-tracks Webuy’s growth in Indonesia, a market that it first tried to break into in mid-2020.

In December 2021, Webuy raked in S$6 million (US$4.4 million) in gross merchandise value (GMV) in transactions across groceries and fast-moving consumer goods categories in its markets.

Xue expects the deal to supercharge Webuy’s GMV in Indonesia tenfold to US$10 million by the end of 2022 and increase revenue across its markets by “three to four times.”

A customer-led model

Chilibeli’s large user base complements Webuy’s goal to “build an end-user enabled app” in Indonesia, where most social commerce platforms are designed to have agents place orders for their customers. Both companies have a similar vision, the CEO notes.

Over 90% of WeBuy’s customers order directly via the app and earn shopping credits when they share their most recent purchases with other members in a WhatsApp group. On Chilibeli, 80% of users make purchases the same way.

On Webuy, group leaders earn a commission based on how orders are fulfilled, and they get higher amounts if collection is done from their house.

Targeting Tier 1 and 2 cities

Beyond groceries