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Jakarta Post

Ramayana goes hip to attract customers

A fried-rice seller, dressed in a bright red rapper-style T-shirt and black shiny jacket, and a young jamu (traditional herbal drink) seller wearing a red-and-black checkered, long-sleeved shirt and corduroy hat sway through the streets of a village amazing locals as they pass

Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, August 6, 2016

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Ramayana goes hip to attract customers

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fried-rice seller, dressed in a bright red rapper-style T-shirt and black shiny jacket, and a young jamu (traditional herbal drink) seller wearing a red-and-black checkered, long-sleeved shirt and corduroy hat sway through the streets of a village amazing locals as they pass.

The scene is part of a video commercial for Ramayana department store currently airing on television, YouTube, Instagram and on LCD displays at train stations. It promotes the hashtag #kerenhaksegalabangsa, meaning “being hip is every nation’s right”.

“Everyone can afford to be hip without having to spend much. We sell hip products, with quality similar to branded products, at affordable prices,” Ramayana director Suryanto said recently during the 2016 Investor Day at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).

“Previously we didn’t sell ripped jeans, but since we introduced them this year they’ve been selling like hot cakes,” he said.

Such a “transformation” is a breakthrough for the publicly listed firm, known for its traditional, on-site marketing strategies and strong grass-roots customer base. It even has its own Twitter and Instagram accounts and has held roadshows with celebrities in 10 cities.

The extra marketing efforts have borne fruit as sales have already risen by 10 percent in June and July during Ramadhan compared to previous months.

Ramayana is aiming to reap at least Rp 8.3 trillion (US$632.38 million) in sales throughout 2016, a 6.4 percent increase from 2015. It had already achieved more than half of this target by the end of June.

Established in 1978 in Sabang, Central Jakarta, Ramayana now operates in 65 cities across the archipelago.

It has set aside Rp 167 billion of funding to renovate nine of its 114 branches. Meanwhile, the new stores will be opened in Tajur, Bogor, West Java; and Solo, Central Java.

Suryanto said it enjoyed good sales in Bali, Padang in West Sumatra, and Malang in East Java, but at the same time, faced tight competition and slower sales growth in the Greater Jakarta area.

He acknowledged that its customers in the Greater Jakarta were the ones who felt the pinch of the economic slowdown the most.

Ramayana’s first half financial report shows the firm booked Rp 3.15 trillion in revenues, 24 percent higher than the same period in 2015.

Clothing and accessories remained the most profitable contributor to its bottom line. Besides clothing and accessories, the company also sells household and fresh products at its three supermarkets: Ramayana, Robinson and Spar.

According to the report, its bottom line increased almost three times to Rp 254.06 billion. For 2016, it expects a 26.5 percent gross profit margin, higher than 25.5 percent last year as a result of the extra marketing campaign.

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