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fter the launch of its Matahari Mall online shop last year, Lippo group is expanding its e-commerce activity into wholesale services.

The Indonesian conglomerate is set to launch Mbiz.co.id in April, which specifically targets businesses and government institutions, unlike Matahari Mall that targets end users.

'€œMbiz provides solutions for the procurement process by digitalizing the system, which translates into efficiency,'€ Adrian Suherman, CEO of Lippo Digital Group, said during a press conference on Tuesday.

In a bid to offer its customers a large variety of products, Mbiz is inviting vendors of a wide range of products to join its platform as suppliers.

Its stated goal is to offer a simple alternative to cumbersome conventional procurement, where a business has to find vendors and compare them one by one, negotiate prices and record transactions manually, which takes a lot of time and effort.

Mbiz aims to expedite procurement by making information from numerous vendors across industries easily available, comparable and transparent. It also offers flexible payment solutions.

The e-commerce site has served only Lippo group'€™s business units since October last year, selling products from 12 main categories, incluing electronics, furniture, office supplies and packaging. Its vendors include Sony, Phillips, Asus, HP, Samsung and other blue chips companies.

Once it is officially launched next month, Mbiz will start selling heavy machinery, agricultural goods as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul items for businesses and government institutions.

'€œIf we talk about fashion in B2C business, it is going to be the clothing itself, however, in B2B or B2G business, the items are yarn, loom, sewing machines, embroidery machines and fabrics,'€ said Mbiz co-founder Ryn Hermawan, comparing the business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B) and business to-government (B2G) models.

Despite the faster e-procurement solution it provides, Mbiz acknowledges that educating businesses to move from their existing procurement systems to a digital platform will be a challenge, since every company had its own unique implanted system.

In order to solve this problem, Mbiz uses a direct selling strategy, giving presentations to companies individually and organizing events to introduce what it does. The startup e-commerce also has a team dedicated to follow up and train businesses, so they can evaluate their own performances.

Mbiz can also give customers product recommendations and input on when they need to purchase goods based on their historical data.

Besides offering services to businesses, Mbiz targets government institutions, since that market remains largely untapped. The potential for procurement of government goods and services in Indonesia last year was Rp 31 trillion (US$2.36 billion) without e-tendering, said Mbiz co-founder Andrew Mawikere.

In the B2G business, Mbiz will play the role of vendor for government institutions, by providing its e-catalog for the Government Procurement Regulatory Body (LKPP).

At present, Mbiz has fewer than 100 employees. Mbiz investment and operations are currently funded by Lippo group, but Mbiz said it was open to foreign investment in the future.

Mbiz is operated by PT Brilliant E-Commerce Berjaya, part of the Lippo group. Matahari Mall, however, is operated by PT Global Ecommerce Indonesia, in which Investama Digital Ventura holds a majority stake. (win)