Indonesian super app Gojek recently celebrated its 10th operational anniversary in November and has quickly become Southeast Asia’s leading mobile on-demand services and payments platform, having also expanded to Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Gojek marks its coming-of-age with continued business resilience and a deepened commitment to supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). On Nov. 12, Gojek announced that its products had all become contribution margin positive, with a stronger commitment to continuously supporting local MSMEs and its driver partners amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fact that Gojek services have been able to contribute positive business margins indicates a significant milestone, showing a path to profitability for a company that supports the lives of millions of driver partners as well as hundreds of thousands of businesses in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia.
This positive business performance has also been made possible by the super app’s well-targeted investments in talent, infrastructure and automation, which have brought about a vast improvement in the efficiency and quality of the platform across multiple areas, including GoBiz self-service onboarding and CareTech ticket automation.
The company has also seen stable topline growth throughout its business, underpinned by a 10 percent increase in annualized gross transaction value (GTV) across all markets, amounting to US$12 billion, up 10 percent from last year. Meanwhile, Gojek’s grocery and shopping platforms GoMart and GoShop recorded a 500 percent jump in GTV.
At the same time, its online payment service GoPay saw transactions more than double year-on-year in October 2020 as Indonesian consumers increasingly turned to online platforms for their daily and payment needs.
Gojek’s business resilience after 10 years is also thanks to its more than 38 million monthly active users across its four operational countries in Southeast Asia, accessing the super app’s more than 20 services, connecting users with over two million registered driver partners and 900,000 GoFood merchants.
Having helped hundreds of millions of users across Southeast Asia remove their daily frictions through its features and services, Gojek has maintained its relevance in the marketplace.
In April 2020, Gojek also secured a fresh capital injection worth Rp 14.5 billion (US$963,297) from seven investors, including Google Asia Pacific, East Ventures, Mandiri Capital Indonesia and Silicon Valley-based Pegasus Tech Ventures.
The digitization and growth of MSMEs in Southeast Asia
MSMEs are at the heart of Gojek’s merchant ecosystem growth. The ecosystem has seen a 90 percent increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. About 900,000 registered merchants are now using Gojek’s platform and services to reach consumers and earn revenue, versus 500,000 in 2019. Gojek’s inclusive and comprehensive solutions have helped traditional merchants of all sizes go digital for the first time.
Gojek’s solutions have also been central to the growth of MSMEs in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, especially at a time when digital services are critical to ensure economic stability.
Merchants continue to be at the forefront of Gojek’s growth plan, with the company committing itself to invest in additional platforms and partnerships that open up new revenue streams for businesses, enabling them to meet changing consumer needs along the way.
Investing in infrastructure and unifying the Gojek platform across the region
Investments in technology and talent continue to be key focus areas for Gojek, underpinning the platform’s ongoing improvements to user experience, for both consumers and partners, along with the efficiency of its business across multiple areas.
One of Gojek’s key investments in 2020 is its unification of its international platforms and the introduction of the Gojek brand to more operational countries (Thailand and Vietnam), a move that will enable the company to approach international markets with more speed and agility. This is highly important for Gojek to grow its operations to benefit more consumers and partners.
Gojek co-chief executive officer (co-CEO) Andre Soelistyo said that as Gojek turned 10 during the critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic, it reflected more deeply the necessary role that its ecosystem model continued to play in connecting supply with evolving demand.
“This year has been extremely challenging and has brought some unprecedented problems for everyone. Thus, we are proud that we have been able to maintain resilience across circumstances and improve lives for more people, while optimizing for growth in key services and making the Group sustainable in the long term,” Andre said.
“As we look to the future, users can expect to see our deepened commitment to supporting small businesses through an enhanced payments and financial services offering that will propel them through this difficult period and support ongoing growth as they join and thrive within Southeast Asia’s digital economy,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Gojek’s other co-CEO, Kevin Aluwi, said that the super app’s mission to reduce life’s daily frictions had been put to the ultimate test as the pandemic had brought about an even greater reliance on digital platforms.
“As we celebrate our 10th birthday, I am so proud of how far we have come and the way we continue to respond and evolve, through sheer innovation and hard work, regardless of the circumstances,” Kevin said.
“With the commitment to improve lives through technology and a magnified focus on business efficiency, we strive to continue creating a positive impact for our ecosystem and the economy for many more years to come. 2020 has been a year that we have learned great lessons from and this will ensure that 2021 will be the best year for us and our partners yet,” he continued.
