Online Shopping Trend Creates Business Opportunities for Logistics Agents

Communication and Information Ministry stated that in 2018 there were about 30 million online buyers in Indonesia. The number of online buyers keeps on increasing by about 12% every year.

Speaking of digital economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is predicted to become the e-commerce market leader in the region, according to Google-Temasek. In 2018, the valuation of Indonesian e-commerce market might surpass $12.2 billion. The value is far higher than Thailand on the second position with $3 billion and Vietnam on the third position with $2.8 billion.

The online shopping trend has created opportunities in various sectors, including logistics. Quite a lot of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have jumped on the bandwagon of digital trends by becoming logistics agents.

One of them is Sanal Riyadi, a Jakarta-based logistics agent. Even though he has been running the business for less than two years, Sanal has recorded a revenue of Rp40 million per year. “We already have several employees taking care of administration, couriers, and vehicles to pick up goods,” he said (BeritaSatu.com, March 12, 2019).

Riyadi started his business after seeing how fond his older sibling was of online shopping. In July 2017, he decided to quit his day job and started his own business. At that time, he only had Rp1 million capital, a business place, and basic equipment such as computer and internet connection.

Maria Amanda also tapped the business opportunity of becoming a logistics agent. She was inspired after she herself often shopped online through e-commerce sites and social media. She then decided to start a business in shipping service in April 2017. Now her business has expanded, and she has owned more than one kiosk.

Beginning with accepting 5kg of packages per day, now Maria must manage hundreds of kilograms of packages per day. Not only deliveries from shopping sites, many packages are documents sent by companies. “There is always the need for package and document shipping,” she said (Okezone.com, March 18, 2019).

The logistics sector is predicted to have a bright prospect as digital economy continues to grow fast. The need for delivery service is estimated to increase along with the growth of online business. Hence, becoming a logistics agent still offers a great opportunity.

What one needs to become a courier agent include a strategic business place, a computer, a printer, and promotional equipment such as banners.

Running in logistics service, SELOG as a subsidiary of PT Serasi Autoraya (SERA) is part of the industry that contributes to the opportunity. SELOG is always committed to providing the best services for the people.

With its complete services, SELOG, an affiliate of Astra, can fulfill people’s logistics needs. SELOG provides logistics service solutions which consist of contract-based logistics service, goods shipment service, warehousing, and comprehensive freight forwarding through land, sea, and air transportation, supported by SELOG Express service for documents and packages.

Check the following page for detailed information about SELOG.