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Jakarta malls launch personal shopper service to stay afloat
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A family window shops while wearing masks at a mall in South Jakarta in late June. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)
T
hree South Jakarta shopping malls owned by property conglomerate Pakuwon Group introduced a personal shopper service on Friday in an attempt to weather the pandemic’s withering effect on retail.
Customers can order items from Kota Kasablanka, Plaza Blok M and Gandaria City from their homes through WhatsApp.
Kota Kasablanka senior manager Agung Gunawan said at a virtual press conference on Friday that the idea had come after the mall's customer service department began receiving a number of delivery requests during large-scale social restrictions (PSBB).
Agung said customers could send messages to the personal shoppers on WhatsApp: Giselle for Gandaria City (+62819-2905-2888), Bianka for Kota Kasablanka (+62813-1945-0300) and Bella for Plaza Blok M (+62819-2720-9288). The service is available from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Agung noted that a team of runners and customer service employees supporting Giselle, Bianka and Bella responded personally to the orders, picked up the items and sent them by courier. The malls are cooperating with Grab Express to serve Jakarta. For out of town delivery, the packages will be sent by JNE.
The service has a minimum purchase requirement of Rp 300,000 (US$20.49) at Gandaria City and Kota Kasablanka and Rp 200,000 at Plaza Blok M.
Read also: Shopping malls, M Bloc Space among businesses reopening on Monday
“The runners will help the customers shop by taking pictures of the goods prior to wrapping them to make sure that they are the right ones and are in good condition. We will wrap them up in paper bags from the shops, just like the ones you would get if you shopped there yourself. And then we will wrap them again in plastic to make sure they will not get dirty on the road," said Agung. "We will also give a little bonus to the shoppers, which is free disinfectant spray for those shopping in Gandaria City and Plaza Blok M and free hand sanitizer for Kota Kasablanka shoppers.”
The pandemic has hit retail catastrophically, forcing malls to close most of their operations down during PSBB. Visitors have been scarce during the PSBB transitional period, even though malls have been allowed to reopen, as many people remain wary of potential virus transmission in public places.
According to Agung, some tenants of the three malls had been unable to survive the pandemic and had closed.
“This program shows our appreciation for the tenants who have stayed. We want them to increase their sales so that we can survive the pandemic [together],” he said.
“It is true that people come to malls not only to shop but also to experience the ambiance, window shop and hang out. However, this program aims to cater to those who really want to shop and already know what they want to buy but are still afraid to go to malls. Therefore, we are positive that this program is needed by our customers,” he added. (kes)
