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E-commerce logistics rat race forces firms to diversify
Businesses engaged in the e-commerce logistics market are seeing a shift with the rise of in-house delivery services and the revival of offline shopping after COVID-19, which could present an opportunity to diversify.
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Drivers of online delivery service Anteraja ride along a road in Jakarta in this undated handout photo. (AnterAja/-)
H
omegrown online delivery company Anteraja, which saw a significant drop in revenue in the first half of the year, has placed the blame squarely on e-commerce firms for causing a decline in demand for delivery services by increasing the take rates they collected from merchant sales.
Analysts opined, however, that despite some moderation as offline outlets reopened, e-commerce transactions in Indonesia were continuing to grow. But whether logistics and delivery companies benefited from this would depend on their cooperation with e-commerce firms.
Anteraja's parent company PT Adi Sarana Armada (ASSA) booked revenue totaling Rp 818 billion (US$53.8 million) in its package delivery business in the first six months of 2023, a 56 percent decline from the same period last year. As a result, Anteraja expects its annual revenue to stagnate or decline.
"One reason is the decision of e-commerce platforms to increase the take rates from their sellers, which has caused a drop in consumer demand," ASSA president director Prodjo Sunarjanto said on July 23 to explain the slowdown in the package delivery industry, as quoted by Bisnis Indonesia.
The resulting impact on ASSA was significant, as e-commerce companies accounted for 90 percent of Antaraja’s business. Nevertheless, Prodjo expressed the hope that the industry would help improve Antaraja’s financial performance to reach the break-even point by the year-end.
Management consulting firm Redseer expects continued overall growth in nationwide parcel volumes from e-commerce this year, fueled by a shift in consumer demand for products with lower average order value but higher volume, such as fashion, beauty and personal care products.
"The player-level impact depends on their partnerships [if any] with various e-commerce players. Larger players [that are] working closely with leading e-commerce incumbents and TikTok Shop could be better off [compared to] smaller players or firms with niche partnerships," Redseer Southeast Asia partner Roshan Raj told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
