“We have been making a lot of changes internally since early this year,” Bukalapak Chief Strategy Officer Teddy Oetomo said. “We want to strike the right balance among our growth, long-term sustainability and positive impact for Indonesia.”
Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, has turned into a hotly contested market for e-commerce. The market is projected to expand from US$21 billion in 2019 to US$82 billion by 2025, according to a joint study by Google, Temasek Holdings and Bain & Co. Bukalapak was the country’s most popular shopping app after Tokopedia and Shopee in terms of monthly active users in 2019’s second quarter, according to research firm iPrice Group.
See: Singapore Internet economy to hit US$12 bil this year: Google-Temasek report
Bukalapak, which means “open stall” in the local language, is majority Indonesian-owned and wants to remain so, according to Oetomo. Founded by three engineering friends in Jakarta in 2010, the company has more than 70 million active users, over 4 million sellers and 2 million mom-and-pop kiosks across Indonesia.
