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Grab’s three-wheeler strategy to attract locals, tourists
Over the past two years, Grab Indonesia has introduced quirky ride-hailing services in three cities, and it announced earlier this week it would continue this trend as part of a renewed partnership with the Tourism Ministry
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span>Over the past two years, Grab Indonesia has introduced quirky ride-hailing services in three cities, and it announced earlier this week it would continue this trend as part of a renewed partnership with the Tourism Ministry.
Grab first introduced a ride-hailing service for betor (motorcycle pedicabs) in Medan two years ago.
They were followed by bentor (sidecar motorcycles) in Gorontalo in March and bajaj (three-wheeled motorized vehicle) in Jakarta in May.
All of them are three-wheeled vehicles.
The company said in a text message to The Jakarta Post that it currently had 40 betor drivers, 80 bentor drivers and 50 bajaj drivers.
“Looking forward, we will introduce in our app more traditional modes of transportation, which are specific to each city. This will give certainty, convenience and — most importantly — visibility to tourists over the existence of such unique transportation modes,” said Grab president Ridzki Kramadibrata during a press conference in Jakarta.
He hinted that Yogyakarta’s andongs (horse-drawn carts), which have been around since the 19th century, were next on the mind of the company.
Grab initially rolled out traditional transportation services as part of a localization strategy, under which services are adapted not only to the country — such as through Indonesia’s archetypal ojek (motorcycle taxi) — but also to individual cities.
Even when the company launched GrabBajay, its statement did not describe the service as a tourist attraction, but as “a solution for everyday transportation inspired by local customs.”
Bajaj, which are notoriously noisy and polluting, are a form of transportation that is restricted to Jakarta’s lower-middle income areas, such as around the ITC Mangga Dua shopping center and Pasar Baru Market, which are among five spots where GrabBajay is available.
Bajaj driver Ade told reporters during GrabBajay’s launch ceremony that he could serve up to five passengers a day and earn an average Rp 10,000 (US$1.06) per trip. Thus, Grab could earn Rp 2,000 per bajaj ride, assuming a 20 percent fee.
Grab’s bajaj network has much room for growth, as its current fleet represents less than 1 percent of the 11,000 bajaj recorded by the Jakarta administration in 2017.
Rival ride-hailing service Go-Jek expressed similar reasoning to Grab when launching Go-Jek Bentor in Gorontalo city in October last year, a few months before the launch of GrabBentor.
Go-Jek spokesman Michael Reza Say described the new bentor service as “maximizing the benefits of local customs in Gorontalo.” The company did not quantify its bentor fleet but noted there were around 27,000 such vehicles in the city.
However, Go-Jek has not announced plans to introduce ride-hailing services using traditional local transportation in other provinces.
The company’s latest hyper-localized program was conducted during the recent Idul Fitri exodus, when the company erected eight Go-Ngaso relaxation booths along the trans-Java highway to give weary travelers a place to rest.
Meanwhile, Grab rebranded its traditional transportation services a tourist attraction after announcing a renewed partnership with the Tourism Ministry on Monday.
The two organizations last partnered together for the #JelajahIndonesiaLebihDekat (Explore Indonesia closer) campaign launched late last year.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya vaguely said at the press conference that tourists, both domestic and foreign, were an ideal market for traditional transportation, because “tourists enjoy iconic things, such as tuk-tuk and jeepneys.”
The minister was referring to Grab’s ride hailing service for tuk-tuk (bajaj) launched in Cambodia last year and jeepneys (elongated jeeps) launched in the Philippines in 2016.
Although townspeople remain the most frequent users of such traditional transportation, the minister touted tourists, particularly millennials who tended to prioritize experience over convenience, as a lucrative market for such services.
He confirmed his office was working on introducing andong ride-hailing services and that, looking forward, he wanted to introduce ride-hailing services for the small ketek motor boats of the Musi River in South Sumatra.
Arief said his office would support the partnership by informing drivers about tourist hotspots in each city, starting with Jakarta’s colonial-era Kota Tua neighborhood.
