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As the merged entity GoTo listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange last month, it soared in early trade – but the high was short-lived. This put the ball back in GoTo’s court to score good financial results in order to keep investors’ doubts at bay.
Capital investors in Indonesia are not used to seeing loss-making companies on the bourses, hence, the next step for GoTo after the IPO is to break even.
With a proven ecommerce marketplace model like Alibaba, the merged firm’s marketplace arm, Tokopedia, has a bigger responsibility to shoulder when it comes to profitability.
In this week’s Big Story, my colleague Jofie breaks down Tokopedia’s playbook for its next phase of growth: tapping into low-tier areas of Indonesia. But that won’t be an easy task.
With lower disposable income, consumers in these areas would trail their urban counterparts in terms of basket size and order frequencies. That playbook is also not new, as Sea Group’s Shopee has been forging that same path in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, our Hot Take focuses on one of the most flourishing ecommerce markets in the world: India. The country has piloted an open network for digital commerce to break the Amazon-Flipkart duopoly. Will it really change India’s ecommerce sector for the better?
– Samreen
THE BIG STORY
Image credit: Timmy Loen
After GoTo IPO, Tokopedia eyes Indonesia’s lower-tier cities
With a regional expansion not in the cards for now, Tokopedia eyes lower-tier cities as prime growth areas. But so are its competitors.
THE HOT TAKE
Will an open network end Amazon, Flipkart holding in India?
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
FYI
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