Reaching nearly 7,000 stores in Greater Jakarta, ubiquitous Indomarets and Alfamarts have become not only stores that sell an array of products but also hubs for many services. Here are five services you can find in convenience stores.

Tickets

Queuing for hours in train stations or in ticket booths for concerts seems a thing of the past, as tickets are now sold online. Those who face difficulties accessing the Internet can head to nearby convenience stores. Two big minimarket network owners '€” PT Indomarco Prismatama and publicly listed PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya (SAT), which own Indomaret and Alfamart respectively '€” cooperate with companies like low-cost carrier Citilink Indonesia, state-owned train operator PT KAI and concert ticket seller Indotix, so customers can buy tickets in their outlets.

Anisa Titisari, 25-year-old employee in Bekasi, West Java, said she had bought train tickets in Indomarets since the service was launched in 2011.

'€œIt'€™s really helpful, especially when the Internet connection is bad in my house,'€ she said, adding that the convenience store was located only a few hundred meters from her house.

Anisa also said the process was easy.

'€œThe problem only occurs if the shop staff are new and unfamiliar with the system, or if the connection isn'€™t good,'€ she said.

Subscription services

Paying monthly subscription services can be bothersome for some. Those who have debit and credit cards can easily go to the nearest ATM machine or access online accounts to pay.

However, people who still rely heavily on cash can simply go to the nearest convenience store with cash in hand.

Indomaret serves a wide range of television channel subscriptions from Indovision, Aora to Top TV. Alfamart provides the same service for Orange TV.

Loyal readers of a number of newspapers and magazines from the Kompas Gramedia group and Suara Merdeka newspaper can also take care of their subscriptions in these outlets.

Both outlets also provide services for paying basic utility bills like electricity and water.

Cargo service

Those wanting to send packages to other provinces can use Indomarco outlets. This month, local cargo service provider RPX Group teamed up with Indomaret to provide courier services in Indomarets across the country.

The service, dubbed i-Packet, offers to carry packages that weigh no more than two kilograms.

Wiwiek Yusuf, marketing director of Indomarco, said that in the collaboration'€™s initial phase, RPX and Indomaret would start providing i-Packet services in 3,255 Indomaret outlets in Greater Jakarta and would target at least 10 transactions in each outlet every day.

Wiwiek said that as of July, Indomaret had 9,901 outlets across the country and planned to have 10,600 by year-end.

Vehicle credit installment

Many financing firms are now eying convenience stores due to their abundant outlets. Most of the outlets are also located in residential areas, making it easy for people to access them.

Financing firms, including PT Suzuki Finance Indonesia, PT Federal International Finance (FIF), PT Wahana Ottomitra Multiartha (WOM), PT Bussan Auto Finance (BAF) and PT BFI Finance Indonesia, are among those benefitting from the existence of convenience stores by collecting installment payments from their customers.

SAT corporate communication general manager Nur Rachman said vehicle installments were the first service his company had provided.

'€œIt'€™s still one of the favorite services,'€ he said.

e-money

Most convenience stores cooperate with banks, either providing space for ATM machines or serving non-cash transactions.

Some convenience stores even bring the partnership to the next level.

SAT, for example, cooperates with PT Bank CIMB Niaga to provide e-money in the form of phone accounts or credit. Users can shop, top up and even exchange credit for cash in its outlets. It also cooperated with PT Indosat for the same service.

Meanwhile, Indomarco, cooperating with state-owned PT Bank Mandiri, also provides the Indomaret Card and the E-money Card. Besides being able to be used to purchase products in its outlets, the card can also be used to pay to use toll roads. The company also provides a money transfer service through Western Union. '€”JP

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