Ecommerce is not new thing. Back in dawn of this century ( or millenium) early 2000s, internet get strong momentum due to increases of PC user along with improve of hardware and software - mainly user friendliness of Microsoft Windows. Manual office and school works are being converted using so called 'information system'. Webmail and internet portals are the king of internet. Name one. Yahoooooo, you're right.
Some creative people came up idea to bring shopping experience into electronic, so then we were introduce to Ebay, Alibaba (1999) which still big player after almost 15 years later. But more names we only know them as legend and only found in history books. la to name some. And one the Indonesia legend is "www.precision.co.id", first Indonesia professional ecommerce selling IT related stuff. Hello there? Are you still there?
They did not succeed, at least most of it did not made until age 10. Died young. People found they are as not free as go to shopping malls to shop. They have to sit tight on a predifined station which connect to internet to shop. I need to setup modem dial up baut rare to 56.6 kbps in order to just open one page in one minute. Let alone shopping, news reading is still a hassle. After several pages opened, telephone bills start to cause headache. Lot more people cant afford the luxury.
Thanks to mobile telecommunication, the second wave of internet started to pulse.
It bring fresh blood to online activity, especially after mobile technology are become faster and affordable. Second wave of ecommerce is on the raise above horizon. They are actually not born yesterday. Their seed is in ground awaiting right moment to grow and flourish. Tokopedia founded on 2009. Bukalapak founded on 2010. Lazada founded on 2012. You name it, google will tell you.
Just until recent years, together with improvement of infrastructure from telecommunication, roads and electricity, ecommerce can ride the wave of success. Yes, very basic factor - INFRASTRUCTURE. With good transportation, we can estimate when our package will arrive. With good telecomunication, buyers are keen to check back every few minutes whether any ongoing flash sale. Just ensure to recharge your device when it is low batt, thanks to electricity.
Different class different style
I often make jokes about how ecommerce is being classified. The lowest class is 'Bukalapak'. As a 'lapak' (non-permanent street kiosk) they are often become victim of Satpol PP, civil security force. Middle class we have 'Tokopedia', as they now a Toko, permanent shop or building. At top class we have : Jakmall. Full air-con, nice aisle, luxury shops and fancy restaurant is what we associated with mall. The lesson is : name is very important.
Key to sucess gain customer
Aggressive promotion accros peer is just to keep up each other, so one doesn't follow will left behind. Next is upgrade site to living platform, which may starts with selling goods now also serving : air ticketing, top up, pay bills, pay anything-you-name-it, hotel, investment, property, used-car, tax, order pizza, complaint about public service, traffic jam, upload video, look for a long lost friend, review a space trip, watch bactery plays. Although some service sound ridiculous for now, but with proper business plan, it can be cash in. But not now.
For now, please focus on : expand seller base to get best price, more product variety, and local shop (and warehouse) to cuts shipping time and cost.
One I need to underline is have a internal police to fight fake seller, good/picture/description doesnt match actual product, crazy cheap laptops, or simply take down those selling iPhone running latest Android.
Be a smart shopper and dont get caught for seller.
