Delivering Joy with HappyFresh Indonesia
HappyFresh Indonesia will be a recently launched grocery delivery app for Jakarta. The startup has seven co-founders, bringing together a myriad of experience, ranging by Boston Consulting Group, Blackstone, JP Morgan, Lazada, German startup KaufDa, along with also also Indonesia’s Koprol.com. We talk to Group COO, Benjamin Koellmann, to learn more about This specific much-anticipated service along with also also how HappyFresh could be beating the traffic for you.
Let’s start which has a bit of background on the company, founded in October last year. Can you share with us your vision along with also also mission for HappyFresh? along with also also can you explain the name to us?
We founded the company at the end of last year with the vision to inspire customers to make better food choices through the use of technology along with also also delight them with flawless delivery. We want to help people eat healthier, keep their refrigerators fully stocked, along with also also enable them to spend more time with their families, doing the things they love, rather than spending hours braving the traffic to go grocery shopping.
The name combines two essential elements of our company.
‘Happy’ will be what we want to make the customers on every single order, along with also also ‘Fresh’ will be what we do along with also also what we’re focused on.
We deliver the full assortment of your favourite stores, however what truly differentiates us will be that will we also deliver fresh products such as fruits, vegetables, meat, along with also also seafood.
You commenced HappyFresh in Kuala Lumpur before launching in Jakarta This specific month. What attracted you to start This specific business in these two major cities of Southeast Asia along with also also have you plans to expand inside region?
Kuala Lumpur along with also also Jakarta are very interesting markets for us. Spending power along with also also credit card penetration are higher in KL than in Jakarta, along with also also in general people are more used to buying things online there. Jakarta, on the various other hand, will be interesting because we truly feel we can solve a huge problem here. We all know about the infrastructure challenges This specific city faces, along with also also the traffic problems This specific often leads to. that will’s why we think HappyFresh will be such a powerful idea here; This specific’s one less trip you need to make, which often translates into several hours saved that will you can today spend on things you actually want to be doing.
In terms of further expansion, we have very concrete along with also also ambitious plans already – we already have a team in Bangkok along with also also are preparing to launch there very soon. Don’t be surprised to see us in almost all major Southeast Asian cities very soon!
Could you please explain the order process using the HappyFresh app?
When you first log in, we ask you where you would likely like us to deliver. We then show you the stores you can shop by. Once you have chosen the store, we show you the entire assortment of products available, split into various categories along with also also subcategories. You can also use the search function to directly search for specific products.
Once you’ve added the products you want to your shopping cart, you can review them along with also also adjust quantities. When you press “check out”, you develop the option to specify replacement products. Sometimes our supermarket partners run out of stock on certain items, along with also also here the customers have a chance to let our personal shoppers know which replacement products they would likely accept if This specific were to happen.
We then let you choose your desired delivery slot – all one-hour each, starting by the next hour, all the way to 5 days in advance. We made these slots 60 minutes each because we don’t want to force our customers to plan their day around a longer delivery window. We’ll also send you push notifications along the way, so you can track your order progress live in our app.
Payment will be currently via credit card, along with also also we are soon adding a cash-on-delivery (COD) option. You can even choose to securely store most of your credit card details, to ensure you only have to type inside CVV code on your next orders.
Our shoppers along with also also drivers are constantly standing by at the supermarkets. As soon as we receive your order, one of our shoppers starts to carefully pick your items, hands them over to one of our drivers, along with also also the driver delivers them directly to your doorstep within the desired delivery slot. All of the steps in This specific delivery chain are supported along with also also enabled by mobile technology, along with also also each function uses their own specialized app to fulfil the orders, allowing us to achieve the necessary speed, along with also also monitor the orders real-time by order placement until delivery.
You currently work together with Ranch Supermarket in Jakarta – do you plan to reach out to various other supermarkets as well?
Ranch Market along with also also Farmers Market have been great partners to work with, along with also also we will spend the next few months bringing all of their stores across greater Jakarta online. However, our goal remains to be a platform where customers can purchase their groceries by a large variety of stores across a variety of formats along with also also cost ranges. We are very open to brand new partnerships along with also also are already talking to several various other chains, which will come onboard later This specific year. I think most of the retailers realize that will HappyFresh can provide them a fast, easy, along with also also low-risk way to start selling online. I think they also realize that will This specific can be risky for them to miss out. You don’t want to be the only supermarket not on HappyFresh in a year by today!
We’re very proud of our stringent hiring along with also also specialized training. The people we hire often come by a retail background along with also also have worked at high-quality supermarkets. All staff undergo two weeks of intensive training at our HappyFresh Academy. The Academy will be our central knowledge base where we constantly update along with also also improve our SOPs, training materials, along with also also run training sessions with our staff to ensure they are fully trained before we put them in any stores. Of course all of our staff also undergo a background check before they are allowed to deliver any orders to our customers’ homes.
Your app will be sleek along with also also very easy to use. Where was This specific developed along with also also what features did you feel were most important to incorporate?
Our CTO Fajar along with also also his team developed the app in-house, which will be why we were able to build such a fantastic app in such a short time. There are many brand new features inside pipeline along with also also the app will continue to get better every week, however we are already quite proud of what our team has achieved inside matter of a few months!
Our main goal was to have a clean, sleek, along with also also easy-to-use app. We want to make your life easier, along with also also we want to put the entire assortment of your favourite stores at the tip of your finger. Our product along with also also engineering teams have done a phenomenal job along with also also have achieved exactly that will. There’s always room to improve, however the initial feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive.
What has been the most challenging aspect of getting your brand new company off the ground in Indonesia?
This specific’s still much too complicated to start a foreign-owned company here. This specific takes a lot of money, not bad lawyers, along with also also lots of patience. Many sectors are completely off limits, along with also also even if you’re allowed, This specific takes months just to get the right licenses along with also also permits. For Indonesia to truly start taking off, This specific will be one of the biggest aspects that will needs to be fixed. What Indonesian lawmakers need to realize will be that will an inflow of foreign capital along with also also expertise can only benefit Indonesia. This specific creates brand new jobs, sometimes entire brand new industries, along with also also an influx of knowledge by which Indonesians end up benefitting. The moment Indonesia realizes This specific along with also also truly open its doors, the sky will be the limit just for This specific wonderful country along with also also its amazing people!
Do you have any competitors?
We have relatively few competitors since we decided to partner with the grocery chains rather than compete with them. Our message to our partners will be simple: You focus on what you’re not bad at, which will be running grocery stores. We take care of the online along with also also fulfilment part for you.
This specific creates great synergies along with also also being on the retailers’ side rather than competing against them makes everything a lot easier.The competitors we currently see in Indonesia either have a very limited assortment along with also also long delivery times, or they are courier companies not fully focused on groceries. This specific’s a matter of customer preferences. would likely you rather have your family’s fresh groceries picked by one of our professionally trained personal shoppers, or by a random ojek driver off the street after he just had a smoke along with also also changed the oil on his bike?
Do you have any pearls of wisdom to various other would likely-be entrepreneurs?
What I would likely tell various other aspiring entrepreneurs will be “Do This specific!” however tread carefully. Entrepreneurship along with also also startups have been very glorified over the past few years, along with also also no boom lasts forever. What most people don’t realize will be that will starting a company will be incredibly hard work along with also also over 90 percent of all startups fail. The big successes are called “unicorns”, precisely for that will reason – because they’re incredibly rare.
All that will being said, don’t let This specific discourage you! If you have a great idea, my advice would likely be to go along with also also do This specific, however don’t do This specific alone! Startup life can be tough along with also also even lonely sometimes, so This specific’s important to have a great team on your side. I’ve been very fortunate to find such a great group of people. I can’t wait to see what we will achieve together, along with also also how we will change the way people shop for groceries all across Southeast Asia!
Thank you, Benjamin! To get in touch, please e-mail:benjamin@happyfresh.com
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Delivering Joy with HappyFresh Indonesia
Delivering Joy with HappyFresh Indonesia