What Pandemic Means to The Future of Indonesian Beauty Tech

In 2019, the former Minister of Communication and Information, Rudiantara, mentioned that the beauty tech industry would be one of the prima donna in the Indonesian digital economy market.

This is partly due to the beauty and personal care industry that has captured a lot of attention from startups in the last few years. The power of e-commerce in Indonesia opens up opportunities in various new business verticals and this is one of those.

Based on the Euromonitor report, the beauty market value in Indonesia was estimated to reach $8.46 billion in 2022, up from the estimated value in 2019 of $6.03 billion. However, will this forecast remain valid given the unexpected health crisis that emerged in early 2020?

DailySocial interviewed some beauty tech players and VC actors to find out about future trends in the beauty industry.

The rise of beauty tech in Indonesia

Beauty tech is defined as a new model for the beauty industry players in reaching consumers. Its business model is no longer focused on conventional distribution channels but combines the strengths of technology and digital.

In Indonesia, the term beauty tech cannot be separated from the emergence of Sociolla in 2015. Its founders, namely John Rasjid, Christopher Madiam, and Chrisanti Indiana, developed a platform that can connect consumers with various kinds of beauty brands. Sociolla may be the only beauty e-commerce platform that has been able to survive and develop until now.

Long before this term became popular, the Female Daily Network (FDN) had appeared and can be said to be the pioneer of the Indonesian beauty tech industry. FDN started as a personal blog about beauty content founded by Hanifa Ambadar and Affi Assegaf in 2005. At that time the penetration of the internet and technology was not as massive as it is now.

Over the past 15 years, FDN has transformed into a platform for beauty junkies to gather. FDN has a strong community base in Indonesia thanks to a rating system that allows anyone to review products from various brands. In fact, FDN is now starting to monetize its business through the Beauty Studio e-commerce platform.

For Co-founder and CEO of Female Daily Network Hanifa Ambadar, the development of beauty tech can accelerate the dissemination of information on beauty products. This means that beauty brands have the opportunity to get the spotlight from a wider audience. Technology actually makes it easier for them to understand the needs of consumers for their products.

“The voice of consumers can not only be used for the next product development, but also to read the tastes and maneuvers of competitors, and to design marketing campaigns,” Hanifa said in the #SelasaStartup session some time ago.

FDN and Sociolla are two clear examples of how technology is changing the beauty industry and becoming a promising business for Indonesia’s digital industry. FDN has received investment injections from several well-known venture capitals (VC), namely Ideosource, Sinar Mas Digital Ventures, and Convergence Ventures. Now, FDN has been acquired by CT Corp, which oversees Trans Media (Detikcom, CNN Indonesia, and CNBC Indonesia).

Last July, Sociolla secured $58 million in Series E funding from Temasek, Pavilion Capital, and Jungle Ventures. Meanwhile, East Ventures was also involved in funding the previous series. Crunchbase data records that the total funding raised by Sociolla from 2015 to date has reached $110 million.

The growth of the beauty industry doesn’t stop there. Ease of access to technology and digital platforms in Indonesia also contributes to the birth of new beauty brands in the country. Some of them, such as Rose All Day and Base, use a Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) approach to reach consumers.

Their appearance marks the positive market enthusiasm for beauty products. Market behavior changes. Information dissemination and product marketing are easier to do with the support of digital platforms.

Pandemic changes consumer behavior

The digital economy is predicted to be a sector that will contribute greatly to the Indonesian economy. However, with the current Covid-19 pandemic situation, what does this mean for the beauty tech industry in Indonesia?

According to Sociolla’s Co-founder and CMO Chrisanti Indiana, the pandemic will certainly change the trend of the beauty industry. Over the past six months, Sociolla discovered three new trends. First, the pandemic is driving an increasing trend of online shopping for beauty and personal care products.

Second, users inevitably take advantage of digital channels to buy beauty products. Third, the Work From Home (WFH) policies in many companies motivate people to take care of themselves.

Quoting Analytic Data Advertising (ADA), online shopping activities in Indonesia skyrocketed to 400 percent due to the pandemic in March 2020. Bank Indonesia said the number of e-commerce transactions since March 2020 reached 98.3 million transactions. Meanwhile, the total value of e-commerce transactions increased by 9.9 percent to IDR 20.7 trillion in the same period compared to February 2020.

Referring to the three findings above, Chrisanti said that the beauty sector still has stable growth going forward. In fact, she said that this sector has been a sector that has survived the pandemic era for the past six months.

“There are indeed changes in behavior and consumption, trends in make-up, and health protocols. However, [changes in behavior] actually strengthen the beauty industry in today’s difficult situation. Please note, self-care is a basic human need. We are optimistic that the beauty industry has great potential to grow.” in the future,” she told DailySocial.

Pandemic encourages local brands with DTC approach

As mentioned earlier, the development of the digital ecosystem has also contributed to the growth of new businesses in Indonesia. A number of domestic beauty brands are using the DTC approach to reach consumers easily and efficiently.

In terms of Base, for example, the brand was founded in 2019 and currently relying only on product marketing through the website. Meanwhile, the Rose All Day brand only relies on the marketplace as the front-end of online sales, such as Tokopedia and Shopee.

Generation Z and the millennial segment who are increasingly attached to the seamless lifestyle are considered to be reasons for some of the local brands to adopt this model. Moreover, physical stores are considered no longer relevant for this segment, considering that information and product availability can be accessed anytime and anywhere.

In a time of pandemic, the mushrooming trend of new brands is predicted to continue. The pandemic has indeed limited all kinds of offline activities. However, this can be an opportunity for the emergence of other new brands that apply a similar business model.

“Currently, marketing activities not only owned by big brands and existing players but also young and aspiring brands. For us, new trends will exist and are built on the presence of new brands that are established because of the digital ecosystem. This will continue to shape the beauty industry in Indonesia,” Chrisanti said.

Base’s CEO, Yaumi Fauziah Sugiharta assessed that Indonesia has a great opportunity to push the domestic beauty market. Especially if you look at the fact that Indonesian consumers are one of the big markets for beauty products in Asia, such as South Korea and Japan.

“Indonesia is one of the largest markets for beauty products in East Asia, for K-Beauty and J-Beauty. About 15 years ago, not many people used these types of products for several reasons; availability and distribution. Therefore, we see that Indonesia has the opportunity to boost penetration of local brands in the region. We have many international standard cosmetic manufacturers,” she explained.

Although this trend will trigger fierce competition, Yaumi believes that it will open up opportunities for consumers that local brands have the ability to create good quality products.

Challenges in the beauty tech

Behind the optimism of local brand growth, Hanifa emphasized that this is also a challenge. He acknowledged that the online platform provides wider access to information on beauty products.

However, consumers have the potential to be easily “distracted” and switch to another brand if they do not have a strong differentiating factor.

“Without it, people will no longer stay only on one website because there are more sources of ‘distraction’. Reflecting on this, we want to become an integrated ecosystem for beauty products,” she added.

Meanwhile, Yaumi sees her business model is having a competitive advantage during the pandemic. Base is positioned as a digitally native vertical brand (DNVB) whose main sales channel is online. Furthermore, a seamless shopping experience becomes big homework for the company.

“Because most consumers are currently not fully mobilized, this has triggered a shift in consumer behavior to shop online. For DNVB like Base, we must ensure that we can provide a seamless shopping experience on all channels, not only the website but also the communication channel,” he said.

Beauty tech optimism in the eye of investors

From an investor’s point of view, East Ventures (EV) Partner Melisa Irene sees several findings to validate the optimism of Indonesia’s beauty tech business in the pandemic era.

Based on its track record, EV is one of the VCs with great interest in this sector. Sociolla is the first EV portfolio in the beauty tech sector. In line with Sociolla’s growth and strong position in this sector, EV continues to invest in new DTC brands, namely Base (2019) and Nusantics (2020).

Returning to the matter of findings, Melisa believes her DTC portfolio will grow in the pandemic era. According to him, e-commerce is beneficial for DTC players due to the increasing trend of user screen time during WFH. A number of businesses have also started shifting sales from offline to online. This opens up opportunities for brands to reach receptive consumers.

“In addition, another opportunity is for many brands to diversify their products to meet consumer’s demand during a pandemic. Beauty products are easy to consume. As the industry matures, they have the opportunity to provide a strong shopping experience, especially from wellness/health products,” she said to DailySocial.

No wonder some of the existing and local brands are busy releasing sanitizer and mask products, two health products that have been highly sought after during the pandemic in the last few months.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Arti Pandemi Bagi Masa Depan Industri “Beauty Tech” Indonesia

Pada 2019, mantan Menteri Komunikasi dan Informatika Rudiantara sempat menyebutkan bahwa industri beauty tech bakal menjadi salah satu primadona di pasar ekonomi digital Indonesia.

Pasalnya industri kecantikan dan perawatan diri (beauty and personal care) banyak dilirik oleh pelaku startup dalam beberapa tahun terakhir. Kekuatan e-commerce di Indonesia membuka peluang di berbagai vertikal bisnis baru dan ini adalah salah satunya.

Berdasarkan laporan Euromonitor, nilai pasar kecantikan di Indonesia sempat ditaksir bakal mencapai $8,46 miliar di 2022, naik dari estimasi nilai di 2019 yang sebesar $6,03 miliar. Namun, apakah perkiraan ini akan tetap valid dengan situasi krisis kesehatan tak terduga yang muncul di awal 2020 ini?

DailySocial mewawancarai sejumlah pelaku beauty tech dan VC untuk mengetahui tren industri kecantikan di masa depan.

Beauty tech dan kebangkitannya di Indonesia

Beauty tech didefinisikan sebagai model baru bagi pelaku di industri kecantikan dalam menjangkau konsumen. Model bisnisnya tak lagi berkutat pada jalur distribusi konvensional, tetapi mengombinasikan kekuatan teknologi dan digital.

Di Indonesia, istilah beauty tech tak lepas dari kemunculan Sociolla di 2015. Para pendirinya, yakni John Rasjid, Christopher Madiam, dan Chrisanti Indiana, mengembangkan platform yang dapat menghubungkan konsumen dengan berbagai macam brand kecantikan. Sociolla mungkin jadi satu-satunya platform e-commerce kecantikan yang mampu bertahan dan berkembang hinggai saat ini.

Jauh sebelum istilah ini populer, Female Daily Network (FDN) sudah lebih dulu muncul dan dapat dikatakan sebagai cikal bakal pelopor industri beauty tech Indonesia. FDN bermula dari blog pribadi seputar konten kecantikan yang didirikan oleh Hanifa Ambadar dan Affi Assegaf di 2005. Saat itu penetrasi internet dan teknologi saat itu belum semasif sekarang.

Selama 15 tahun terakhir, FDN telah bertransformasi menjadi platform berkumpulnya para beauty junkie. FDN memiliki basis komunitas kuat di Indonesia berkat rating system yang memampukan siapapun untuk mengulas produk dari berbagai brand. Bahkan, FDN kini mulai memonetisasi bisnisnya melalui platform e-commerce Beauty Studio.

Bagi Co-founder dan CEO Female Daily Network Hanifa Ambadar, perkembangan beauty tech dapat mempercepat penyebaran informasi produk kecantikan. Artinya, brand kecantikan memiliki kesempatan untuk mendapat sorotan dari audiensi yang lebih luas. Teknologi justru memudahkan mereka memahami kebutuhan konsumen terhadap produknya.

“Suara konsumen tak hanya dapat dimanfaatkan untuk pengembangan produk berikutnya, tetapi juga membaca selera dan manuver kompetitor, serta merancang kampanye pemasaran,” papar Hanifa di sesi #SelasaStartup beberapa waktu lalu.

FDN dan Sociolla menjadi dua contoh nyata bagaimana teknologi mengubah industri kecantikan dan menjadi bisnis menjanjikan bagi industri digital Indonesia. FDN pernah mendapat suntikan investasi dari beberapa venture capital (VC) ternama, yaitu Ideosource, Sinar Mas Digital Ventures, dan Convergence Ventures. Kini, FDN telah diakuisisi CT Corp yang menaungi Trans Media (Detikcom, CNN Indonesia, dan CNBC Indonesia).

Sociolla sendiri Juli lalu mengantongi pendanaan Seri E sebesar $58 juta dari Temasek, Pavilion Capital, dan Jungle Ventures. Adapun, East Ventures juga terlibat pada pendanaan seri sebelumnya. Data Crunchbase mencatat total pendanaan yang dihimpun Sociolla sejak 2015 hingga saat ini sudah mencapai $110 juta.

Pertumbuhan industri kecantikan tidak berhenti sampai di situ. Kemudahan akses terhadap platform teknologi dan digital di Indonesia turut berkontribusi terhadap kelahiran brand kecantikan baru dalam negeri. Beberapa di antaranya, seperti Rose All Day dan Base, menggunakan pendekatan Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) untuk menjangkau konsumen.

Kemunculan mereka menandai adanya antusiasme positif pasar terhadap produk kecantikan. Perilaku pasar berubah. Penyebaran informasi dan pemasaran produk semakin mudah dilakukan dengan dukungan platform digital.

Pandemi ubah tren perilaku konsumen

Ekonomi digital digadang menjadi sektor yang bakal berkontribusi besar terhadap perekenomian Indonesia. Namun, dengan situasi pandemi Covid-19 saat ini, apa artinya bagi industri beauty tech di Indonesia?

Menurut Co-founder dan CMO Sociolla Chrisanti Indiana, pandemi tentu akan mengubah tren industri kecantikan. Selama enam bulan terakhir, Sociolla menemukan tiga tren baru. Pertama, pandemi mendorong peningkatan tren belanja online untuk produk kecantikan dan perawatan diri.

Kedua, pengguna mau tak mau memanfaatkan channel digital untuk membeli produk kecantikan. Ketiga, kebijakan Work From Home (WFH) di banyak perusahaan memotivasi masyarakat untuk melakukan perawatan diri.

Mengutip Analytic Data Advertising (ADA), aktivitas belanja online di Indonesia meroket hingga 400 persen akibat pandemi pada Maret 2020. Bank Indonesia menyebutkan jumlah transaksi e-commmerce sejak Maret 2020 mencapai 98,3 juta transaksi. Sementara, total nilai transaksi e-commerce naik 9,9 persen menjadi Rp20,7 triliun pada periode sama dibandingkan Februari 2020.

Mengacu pada tiga temuan di atas, Chrisanti menilai bahwa sektor kecantikan masih memiliki pertumbuhan stabil ke depan. Bahkan ia menyebut sektor ini menjadi sektor yang bertahan di era pandemi selama enam bulan terakhir.

“Memang ada perubahan perilaku dan konsumsi, tren make up, dan protokol kesehatan. Namun [perubahan perilaku] justru memperkuat industri kecantikan di situasi sulit saat ini. Perlu diketahui, self care adalah kebutuhan dasar orang. Kami optimistis industri kecantikan punya potensi besar untuk tumbuh di masa depan,” paparnya kepada DailySocial.

Pandemi dorong brand lokal dengan pendekatan DTC

Sebagaimana disebutkan di awal, perkembangan ekosistem digital turut mendorong pertumbuhan bisnis-bisnis baru di Indonesia. Sejumlah brand kecantikan dalam negeri menggunakan pendekatan DTC untuk menjangkau konsumen secara mudah dan efisien.

Pada contoh kasus Base, misalnya, brand yang berdiri pada 2019 tersebut saat ini baru mengandalkan pemasaran produk melalui website. Sementara, brand Rose All Day hanya mengandalkan marketplace sebagai front-end penjualan online, yaitu melalui Tokopedia dan Shopee.

Generasi Z dan segmen milenial yang semakin lekat dengan gaya hidup seamless dinilai menjadi alasan bagi sejumlah brand lokal untuk menerapkan model ini. Terlebih toko fisik dinilai sudah tidak lagi relevan bagi segmen tersebut mengingat informasi dan ketersediaan produk dapat diakses kapanpun dan di manapun.

Dalam konteks pandemi, tren menjamurnya brand baru diprediksi terus berlanjut. Pandemi memang membatasi segala macam aktivitas offline. Akan tetapi, hal tersebut dapat menjadi peluang bagi kemunculan brand baru lainnya yang menerapkan model bisnis serupa.

“Sekarang kegiatan marketing tidak hanya dimiliki oleh big brand dan pemain existing, tetapi juga young and aspiring brand. Bagi kami, tren baru akan ada dan dibangun dari kehadiran brand baru yang berdiri karena ekosistem digital. Ini akan terus membentuk industri kecantikan di Indonesia,” papar Chrisanti.

Kepada DailySocial, CEO Base Yaumi Fauziah Sugiharta menilai Indonesia punya peluang besar untuk mendorong pasar kecantikan dalam negeri. Apalagi jika melihat fakta bahwa konsumen Indonesia termasuk salah satu pasar besar bagi kiblat produk kecantikan di Asia, yakni Korea Selatan dan Jepang.

“Indonesia adalah salah satu pasar terbesar produk kecantikan di Asia Timur, yaitu K-Beauty dan J-Beauty. 15 tahun lalu belum banyak orang yang pakai jenis produk itu karena beberapa hal; ketersediaan dan distribusi. Maka itu, kami lihat Indonesia punya peluang untuk dongkrak penetrasi brand lokal ke regional. Kita punya banyak manufaktur kosmetik berstandar interasional,” jelasnya.

Meski tren tersebut akan memicu persaingan ketat, Yaumi menilai bahwa hal tersebut justru akan membuka kesempatan bagi konsumen bahwa brand lokal memiliki kemampuan dalam menciptakan produk berkualitas baik.

Tantangan bagi industri kecantikan

Di balik optimisme pertumbuhan brand lokal, Hanifa menekankan bahwa hal tersebut juga menjadi tantangan. Ia mengakui bahwa platform online memberikan akses lebih luas terhadap informasi produk kecantikan.

Akan tetapi, konsumen berpotensi mudah “terdistraksi” dan berpindah ke brand lain apabila tidak memiliki faktor pembeda yang kuat.

“Tanpa itu, orang tidak bisa lagi berlama-lama di satu situs karena sumber ‘distraksi’ semakin banyak. Berkaca dari hal ini, kami ingin menjadi satu ekosistem terpadu untuk produk kecantikan,” tambahnya.

Sementara Yaumi melihat model bisnisnya justru memiliki keuntungan kompetitif selama masa pandemi. Base diposisikan sebagai digitally native vertical brands (DNVB) yang channel penjualan utamanya adalah online. Maka itu, pengalaman belanja yang seamless menjadi PR besar bagi perusahaan.

“Karena sebagian besar konsumen saat ini belum sepenuhnya mobilisasi, ini memicu pergeseran perilaku konsumen untuk berbelanja online. Bagi DNVB seperti Base, kami harus memastikan dapat memberikan pengalaman belanja yang seamless di semua channel, tidak hanya website tetapi juga communication channel,” tuturnya.

Optimisme bisnis beauty tech di mata investor

Dari kacamata investor, Partner East Ventures (EV) Melisa Irene melihat ada beberapa temuan yang dapat memvalidasi optimisme bisnis beauty tech Indonesia di era pandemi.

Berdasarkan rekam jejaknya, EV merupakan salah satu VC yang memiliki ketertarikan besar di sektor ini. Sociolla merupakan portofolio pertama EV di sektor beauty tech. Sejalan dengan pertumbuhan dan posisi kuat Sociolla di sektor ini, EV melanjutkan investasinya ke brand DTC baru, yakni Base (2019) dan Nusantics (2020).

Kembali ke soal temuan, Melisa meyakini portofolio DTC-nya akan tumbuh di era pandemi. Menurutnya, e-commerce menjadi beneficial bagi pelaku DTC karena tren screen time pengguna semakin meningkat selama WFH. Sejumlah bisnis juga sudah mulai shifting penjualan dari offline ke online. Ini membuka peluang bagi brand untuk menjangkau receptive consumer.

“Selain itu, peluang lainnya adalah banyak brand melakukan diversifikasi produk untuk memenuhi kebutuhan konsumen di masa pandemi. Produk kecantikan itu mudah dikonsumsi. Dengan semakin matangnya industri, mereka punya peluang untuk memberikan pengalaman belanja yang kuat, terutama dari produk wellness/kesehatan,” ungkapnya kepada DailySocial.

Tak heran sejumlah brand lokal existing maupun ramai-ramai mengeluarkan produk sanitizer dan masker, dua produk kesehatan yang sangat dicari selama pandemi beberapa bulan terakhir.

SYCA Official Secures Seed Funding from Salt Ventures, Working on the Direct to Consumer Strategy

Utilizing social media and beauty products that are currently increasingly popular with young women in Indonesia, SYCA Official is here to offer lip tint beauty products. SYCA Official’s Co-founder, Pamela Wirjadinata said, judging from the current trends and developments in the industry, it was the right time for her with the other co-founder, Monica Tan to present a special platform for beauty products online.

“Starting with Japan in 2019, I saw many local brands with their own independent shops, especially in the beauty section. Next, Monica and I saw many opportunities to take the business in Indonesia. We feel everyone started to gain trust in beauty brands in Indonesia,” Pamela said.

Using social media accounts and marketplace services, SYCA Official wants to give options to its target users to enjoy local beauty products with quality at affordable prices. SYCA also tries to present natural products that refer to beauty trends from South Korea.

Direct to consumer business model

With the direct-to-consumer (DTC) concept, SYCA Official claims to have around 10 thousand customers who transact using marketplace services such as Shopee, Tokopedia, Sociolla, Female Daily, and Love and Flair.

Currently, the company is preparing a website that can later be accessed by customers. In terms of approach, Pamela said the strategic step became more ideal and in accordance with their concept of selling directly to the target market (DTC). The company is also trying to focus on retail and how to get the best profit margins while at the same time gaining wider brand awareness.

“This year, we target to launch a website. In accordance with the plan, within the next 1-2 months, we will release it. In terms of application, we’ll see in the future,” Pamela said.

Although they did not experience any significant changes or impacts during the Covid-19 deployment, because what they did from the beginning was online; but in terms of production of goods, Pamela mentioned having experienced problems in the matter of production because the factory could not operate normally. The delivery of goods also briefly interrupted.

“To date, we’ve sold around 17 thousand products with an average of 2000 units per month since the launch of SYCA Official. For partners, we’ve collaborated with two partners which products we bought,” Pamela said.

Backed by Salt Ventures

As a startup that offers a “new economy” approach, SYCA Official is one of the portfolios owned by Salt Ventures, which so far has invested quite a lot in new startups that offer similar business models. After securing the seed funding, with undisclosed value, SYCA Official has several business plans.

“We raised our pre-seed funding in February 2020. Next, we want to expand our line product, which is certainly in line with this marketing and brand awareness strategy with this first funding. We really hope it will help us to grow bigger and better with Salt Ventures as our partner,” Pamela said.

There are several reasons why Salt Ventures is interested in investing in startups that target beauty products and fully utilize online channels. Salt Ventures Indonesia’s Managing Partner, Danny Sutradewa mentioned three basic things that are the focus of their investment.

“Among these are the founder’s character and ability to turn ideas into reality and to navigate businesses in a variety of circumstances. We also see the SYCA business model that uses online infrastructure to make its business scalable and focus on the right target market. SYCA currently has an online presence that “In addition, the cosmetics industry is a fast-growing industry in Indonesia,” Danny said.

In addition to SYCA Official, another portfolio owned by Salt Ventures that has run a business with a similar concept but with a different product is Sneakershoot.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

Kantongi Pendanaan Awal dari Salt Ventures, SYCA Official Makin Mantap Perdalam Strategi “Direct-to-Consumer”

Memanfaatkan media sosial dan produk kecantikan yang saat ini makin populer di kalangan perempuan muda di Indonesia, SYCA Official hadir menawarkan produk kecantikan yaitu lip tint. Kepada DailySocial Co-founder SYCA Official Pamela Wirjadinata mengungkapkan, dilihat dari tren dan perkembangan industri keantikan saat ini, menjadi waktu yang tepat baginya bersama dengan co-founder lainnya yaitu Monica Tan untuk menghadirkan platform khusus untuk produk kecantikan secara online.

“Berawal dari inspirasi ke Jepang tahun 2019, saya melihat di sana banyak local brand yang punya independent shop sendiri, terutama di beauty section. Selanjutnya saya bersama Monica melihat banyak kesempatan yang bisa diambil untuk mengembangkan bisnis tersebut di Indonesia. We feel everyone mulai gain trust kepada beauty brand di Indonesia,” kata Pamela.

Memanfaatkan akun media sosial dan layanan marketplace, SYCA Official ingin memberikan pilihan lebih kepada target penggunanya untuk menikmati produk kecantikan lokal dengan kualitas dan harga yang terjangkau. SYCA juga mencoba untuk menghadirkan produk yang natural mengacu kepada tren kecantikan dari Korea Selatan.

Model bisnis direct-to-consumer

Mengusung konsep direct-to-consumer (DTC) saat ini SYCA Official mengklaim telah memiliki sekitar 10 ribu pelanggan yang melakukan transaksi memanfaatkan layanan marketplace seperti Shopee, Tokopedia, Sociolla, Female Daily, dan Love and Flair.

Untuk saat ini perusahaan tengah mempersiapkan website yang nantinya bisa diakses oleh pelanggan. Disinggung mengapa pendekatan tersebut yang diambil oleh mereka, menurut Pamela langkah strategis tersebut menjadi lebih ideal dan sesuai dengan konsep mereka yaitu menjual langsung ke target pasar (DTC). Perusahaan juga mencoba untuk fokus kepada ritel dan bagaimana nantinya bisa mendapatkan profit margin yang terbaik sekaligus mendapatkan brand awareness yang lebih luas lagi.

“Tahun ini kita memiliki target untuk bisa meluncurkan website. Jika sesuai dengan rencana dalam waktu 1-2 bulan ke depan akan kita rilis. Untuk aplikasi masih melihat kondisi ke depannya,” kata Pamela.

Meskipun tidak mengalami perubahan atau dampak yang signifikan selama penyebaran Covid-19, karena yang mereka lakukan sejak awal adalah secara online; namun dari sisi produksi barang, Pamela menyebutkan sempat mengalami kendala dalam soal produksi karena pabrik tidak bisa beroperasi secara normal. Pengiriman barang juga sempat terganggu.

“Sejauh ini kita telah menjual sekitar 17 ribu produk dengan rata-rata 2000 unit per bulannya sejak diluncurkannya SYCA Official. Untuk mitra kami menjalin dengan dua mitra yang semua produknya kami beli putus dari mereka,” kata Pamela.

Didukung oleh Salt Ventures

Sebagai startup yang menawarkan pendekatan “new economy”, SYCA Official merupakan salah satu portofolio milik Salt Ventures, yang selama ini cukup banyak berinvestasi kepada startup baru yang menawarkan model bisnis serupa. Setelah mengantongi pendanaan awal nominal yang tidak disebutkan, SYCA Official memiliki beberapa rencana bisnis.

“We raised our pre-seed funding bulan Februari 2020 lalu. Selanjutnya kami ingin melakukan ekspansi produk line, yang tentunya in line with marketing and brand awareness strategy dengan pendanaan pertama ini. We really hope it will help us to grow bigger and better with Salt Ventures as our partner,” kata Pamela.

Ada beberapa alasan mengapa Salt Ventures tertarik untuk berinvestasi kepada startup yang menyasar kepada produk kecantikan dan sepenuhnya memanfaatkan channel online. Menurut Managing Partner Salt Ventures Indonesia Danny Sutradewa, terdapat 3 hal mendasar yang menjadi fokus investasi mereka.

“Di antaranya adalah karakter dan kemampuan pendiri untuk menjalankan ide menjadi kenyataan dan untuk menavigasi bisnis dalam berbagai keadaan. Kami juga melihat model bisnis SYCA yang menggunakan infrastruktur online untuk membuat bisnisnya scalable dan fokus pada target pasar yang tepat. SYCA saat ini memiliki kehadiran online yang kuat. Selain itu industri kosmetik adalah industri yang berkembang pesat di Indonesia,” kata Danny.

Selain SYCA Official, portofolio milik Salt Ventures lainnya yang telah menjalankan bisnis dengan konsep serupa namun dengan produk yang berbeda adalah Sneakershoot.