O

nline fashion boutique Berrybenka has said it will expand its services by opening pop-up stores in several major cities nationwide and improve customer relations through digital media.

Berrybenka CEO Jason Lamuda said the company would open pop-up stores in Medan, North Sumatra; Makassar, South Sulawesi; Yogyakarta; Semarang, Central Java; Manado, North Sulawesi and Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

The pop-up stores will help strengthen the Berrybenka brand outside Greater Jakarta, which is now its main stronghold, according to Jason.

The move will start on Jan. 28 with the opening of a pop-up store in Medan, to be followed by other cities.

The company is also considering the establishment of e-commerce hubs in Surabaya, East Java and Bandung, West Java to interact more closely with regional customers.

Other measures the company will take this year include improving its digital services, by stepping up customer interaction through messaging apps, improving its
mobile app and partnering with convenience store chain Indo-maret on a possible new payment mechanism.

All of this, said Jason, would help promote Berrybenka'€™s position as a national fashion e-commerce platform as well as the products of Indonesian fashion businesses.

'€œOur goal in the end is to not only become the most notable fashion brand in Indonesia but to also help promote the creation of local brands. That will be our focus [for 2016] because we will only focus on being a fashion platform,'€ he said on Wednesday.

About 90 percent of all Berrybenka sales comprised local products, in line with Berrybenka'€™s initial goal of improving local sales, Jason said.

Responding to the government'€™s plan to implement the e-commerce road map at the end of January, Berrybenka managing director Danu Wicaksana said the company would comply with the regulation as e-commerce business points had been made clearer and promoted transparency in business practices.

'€œWe haven'€™t seen the road map, but we know that it has offered clarity regarding e-commerce business practices and the government'€™s stance on it, and offers us guidelines on consumer protection,'€ he said.

Danu said he was interested to learn how the road map would explain the possible tax differences between local and foreign players in the industry. Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara explained that the road map would allow foreign players to enter the industry, and possibly seek full ownership, however they would be subject to higher taxes.

Between 2013 and 2014, BerryBenka reportedly saw 150 to 200 percent revenue growth, and experienced further 200 percent growth between 2014 and 2015. Danu said this was a sign that e-commerce would remain a strong industry in the year ahead.

Berrybenka currently has 1.5 million subscribers in its database, with demand from Hong Kong, Brunei and Malaysia through sister company Hijabenka. Berrybenka has partnered with around 1,000 small and medium enterprises in its operations.