Building business resilience: How sellers in rural areas are getting help to succeed online

Based in Solo, some 560 km from Jakarta, Mr Satria Aji Pamungkas used to struggle to sell his clothing amid fierce competition, but the entrepreneur now chalks up average sales of about 10,000 items every month.

Business has improved by leaps and bounds after the 25-year-old joined e-commerce platform Shopee, and it translates to an increase of 300 per cent in sales compared to the time when his company, Saspasara Collection, was only a brick-and-mortar operation. The physical store has since been turned into a warehouse and production centre for product packing before delivery to different parts of Indonesia - and the rest of the world.

Mr Satria's story is an example of how Shopee's investment in technology promotes an inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystem by helping sellers to grow their online presence and help uplift local businesses and communities in South-east Asia and Taiwan.

Even during tumultuous times in 2022, Shopee remains committed to its mission to serve the underserved by creating a positive impact through e-commerce. To help sellers to scale and succeed online, especially those in the rural communities, the company has launched initiatives such as Shopee Seller Education Hub and Shopee University, providing training programmes and a wide range of resources online for free.

These initiatives have benefitted many sellers who faced economic uncertainty amid rising inflation and the risk of a global recession even as Covid-related concerns eased.

"I joined intensive training provided by Shopee for free in Kampus UMKM Shopee, where I gained knowledge across different aspects including inventory management, product photography and packaging designs," says Mr Satria.

Kampus UMKM Shopee was founded in 2021 to provide facilities and training for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) to develop their businesses. These are 10 physical campuses in cities like Solo, Jakarta, Makassar and Samarinda across Indonesia.

Training is also available via Shopee University, an online platform that offers a range of resources on topics ranging from e-commerce operations to digital marketing.

As of 2022, two million sellers made use of the resources on Shopee University to pick up new skills, and approximately 20,000 local talents were upskilled through Shopee's tech competitions and training programmes. These include the Shopee Code League, Shopee Product & Design Challenge and Shopee Ultimate Case Challenge 2022.

Apart from Shopee University, Mr Satria also participated in Shopee's many regular campaigns that not only brought value and savings to users, but also provided much needed exposure to millions of MSMEs like his Saspasara Collection.

Take for example, the 12.12 Shopee Celebrates Local campaign where the spotlight is shone on local MSMEs and sellers to help raise brand awareness, encouraging consumers to support these local business owners.

Like Saspasara Collection, Singapore-based SL Foods chose to onboard with Shopee due to the platform's provision of training and resources to help its sellers grow their online business. The results have been uplifting.

In the middle of 2022, when most Covid-19 restrictions had been lifted and offline activity gradually resumed, the food manufacturer and distributor of Korean food and beverage products managed to achieve a ninefold increase in sales as compared to an average day, during Shopee's 7.7 campaign.

Mr Mark Dave Cerojales, head of Online Sales at SL Foods, says the results would not have been possible without Shopee's support - and extensive range of resources.

"At SL Foods, Shopee University was an important resource for us in adopting the necessary skills we needed to sell online. This includes basic courses on how to set up our shop, to more advanced courses on how to optimise our ads," he says.

"Through these resources, we are able to manage our online storefront more efficiently and improve our customer experience. This has enabled us to connect better with our existing customers and attract new customers at the same time."

Reaching new buyers outside big cities

Penetrating new markets is even more critical in an environment where costs are increasing for businesses, and where offline competition is heating up post-pandemic. Despite growing concerns last year that e-commerce has been impacted by the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, a newly-released report by Shopee found that coming online has helped brands and sellers stay more resilient by providing them with untapped opportunities and new paths for their businesses.

Last year, tens of millions of users shopped on Shopee for the first time, according to the e-commerce platform's 2022 Impact Report titled "Shopee Serves: Building Resilience with Technology". Data from the report showed that over 85 per cent of them came from rural areas outside of capitals and big cities. On top of that, new local sellers from 200 localities opened their online stores with Shopee.

Mr Terence Pang, chief operating officer at Shopee, says: "Over the last year, we continued to support our communities as they navigated a particularly challenging environment. With our commitment to supporting the needs of our buyers and sellers, we helped users save more on everyday needs while enabling businesses to capture opportunities, such as connecting and deepening their engagement with untapped audiences already in our ecosystem.

"We are grateful for their continued trust in us, and we remain fully focused on helping our communities strengthen their resilience through the year ahead."

With Shopee, MSMEs and sellers, especially those based in rural communities, are able to reach new audiences and discover new potential customers through the e-commerce platform's wide user base, which spans across South-east Asia, Taiwan and Latin America.

By enrolling in the Shopee Export Programme, Mr Satria's daster collection now reaches millions in the region - and even as far flung as Brazil.

"To further grow my business, I also learnt about the Shopee Export Programme, where I developed skills on how to reach shoppers from overseas. Shopee's business strategy has enabled Sapasara Collection to grow and succeed online," he says.