How successful is Internet business in Indonesia?<\/p>\n
By Jon Minofri<\/p>\n
Jakarta (JP): Internet implementation in the business world
\nhas led to a new terminology: The New Economy. It is a pity that
\nnot all companies call themselves the successful New Economy.
\nMaybe more dot-coms will end up in dot-com graveyard than those
\nthat are successful. What is wrong with them?<\/p>\n
Everyday, we hear about the birth of a new dot-com. The number
\nis ever increasing. There is much new terminology to go with it:
\ndot-com, e-business, B2B, etc. Some of them are in e-commerce,
\nothers provide news, information, etc.<\/p>\n
The players are also much the same. There are some newcomers,
\nwhich means that the dot-com business is really a new thing for
\nthem, or older players who add their services to the Internet.
\nAnd then there are players operating in different fields before
\nexpanding their business to include the Internet.<\/p>\n
In every country, the symptoms are almost the same: The
\nInternet gives new ambitions to the business world. Dot-coms have
\na dream to build up an Internet business because it is so easy,
\nfast and promises big profits. So Internet business becomes more
\nand more dressed up, like a fair.<\/p>\n
But the number of deaths may be as high as the number of new
\nbirths. The Internet can be hell for those that are not
\nsuccessful but heaven for those that are smart in taking
\nadvantage of it.<\/p>\n
Passing the first six years, since the Internet became
\npopular, many people have just realized that the Internet is not
\nan angel to do business with. It is just a way that if an
\nentrepreneur does not have a clear Internet map, he or she can
\nget \"lost\" in his or her own business.<\/p>\n
It is also interesting to see which company goes to heaven and
\nwhich one goes to hell, especially in Indonesia. And what are
\nactually their mistakes? Do the mistakes belong to the Internet
\nor to the entrepreneur?<\/p>\n
Abdul Rachman, Agracom and Detikcom owner, stated in a seminar
\nin Jakarta that he was not sure if all new Internet companies
\nwill develop well. He is sure that success will fall to
\nconventional companies that use the Internet competitiveness for
\ntheir business.<\/p>\n
Although, without mentioning any examples, maybe we can guess
\nwhich companies Abdul means. These could include the ones growing
\nfrom conventional business that expand to include the Internet,
\ncompanies that ran their business long before the Internet
\nexisted, then moved to or used the Internet to further develop
\ntheir business.<\/p>\n
LippoShop can be put in this group. Even though the name
\nLippoShop showed up in 2000, the business concept was started a
\ncouple years ago, without the Internet. Back then it was known as
\nDialMart, and was owned by the business group Lippo. The concept
\nthat was offered by DialMart was shopping by telephone.<\/p>\n
DialMart prepared a printed catalog, and sent it to members by
\ncourier. With this catalog, customers could place orders via
\ntelephone. Payment is made by bank transfer. After that, the
\norder is sent by the courier to the customer's delivery address.
\nBut, they found this was not running well. There were so many
\nobstacles in the implementation. For example, delivery were not
\nmade on time, prices promised to be cheaper were actually more
\nexpensive than in supermarkets.<\/p>\n
Before DialMart closed its doors it was bought by Lippo, which
\nchanged the name to LippoShop. Lippo did not make its LippoShop a
\n100 percent e-commerce business but combined it with conventional
\nservices; orders by telephone are still accepted.<\/p>\n
Courier service company DHL is doing the same thing as
\nLippoShop in a couple of ways. DHL uses the Internet to increase
\nits services, which it has run here for a couple of years. It
\noffers Internet facilities to its customer so they can know
\nwhether their dispatches have arrived on time.<\/p>\n
The Global Sources company is one of the best examples of a
\nsuccessful conventional business running on the Internet (see box
\narticle).<\/p>\n
Companies like those mentioned above can be grouped in The New
\nEconomy, that come from conventional businesses and change or
\nenrich their services with the Internet.<\/p>\n
There are also some businesses that begin as brand new and
\nstart directly on the Internet and implement e-commerce. There is
\na lot of news being written about these companies not all
\nreaching success.<\/p>\n
But some of these unsuccessful companies have strong reasons
\nto continue their business on the Internet. For example, they
\nwant to get into the market early, so if the Internet is really
\nexposed in Indonesia, their business will be known by consumers.
\nBy doing it this way, they can lead the market better than those
\nwho are newcomers.<\/p>\n
For example, Radioclick (www.radioclick.com), a company under
\nMaxima Group, has not reached an optimum number of transactions,
\nand implementation of e-commerce is being handled carefully to
\navoid credit-card abuse. But John Tumiwa, business manager, is
\nreally convince that someday, the Internet will get cheaper for
\nmost Indonesian, and his business will be develop a lot better
\nthan now, compared to the same businesses established later.<\/p>\n
www.oto.co.id is, in couple of things, like Radioclick,
\nbecause at this time, Indonesians are not used to buying a car
\nthrough the Internet. The tradition of actually seeing and
\ntouching the thing they want to buy makes e-commerce not as
\nsuccessful as it could be in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
But some day, after the crisis is truly over, that tradition
\nwill change, and at that time www.oto.co.id will be more
\ncompetitive than its rivals.<\/p>\n
It is completely different for Indo.com (www.indo.com), which
\nhas become a success even though it started up first as a dot-
\ncom, like Radioclick. Some of Indo.com's competitiveness comes
\nfrom the business being established since 1995, when the Internet
\nbecame popular.<\/p>\n
Indo.com is really good in looking through the market and
\npicking up the product. What it sells is tours to Bali, and it
\npromotes them worldwide. One more thing that really supports this
\ndot-com, is that if an Internet user types Bali into the search
\nengine, the first website shown is Indo.com. So this website
\nreally is popular worldwide.<\/p>\n
In addition, right now, there are 15,000 websites around the
\nworld that make a special link to indo.com -- including America
\nOnline.<\/p>\n
The similarity for the newcomer above is that it has picked a
\nbusiness field that is actually conventional, like selling hotel
\nrooms, cars, CD-Audio, etc. The most important thing is that all
\nthose companies are clever in looking for the right segment and
\npromoting their website to society.<\/p>\n
These companies can be included in the new economy group,
\nwhich means a company that runs its business by using the
\nInternet technology.<\/p>\n
For the unsuccessful Internet companies, maybe the way they
\ntake it in is quite different. Like a news portal, nowadays and
\nin the years to come, there is no immediate profit. Because for
\nquite a while yet, news will still be grouped under the services
\nfor Internet that are not a profitable commodity.<\/p>\n
So, if you want to get into the Internet business, do not move
\nto far from conventional business just yet. The Internet can only
\naccelerate business running. It is no guarantee to success.<\/p>\n
The writer is a Jakarta-based journalist.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/how-successful-is-internet-business-in-indonesia-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }