iStyle Business Strategy and Growth Post Rebranding

The large demand for beauty and lifestyle products becomes iStyle’s current focus, as an e-commerce platform with an online mall concept. After last year rebranding, they continue to focus on expanding the product line by presenting Korean fashion brands such as Marhen J & Find Kapoor followed by various merchandise and K-Pop albums.

The company’s focus on Korean products is supported by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) research in 2021. Indonesia is a country with high interest in the Korean wave. Based on this research, Indonesia positioned in the 4th rank as a country with high interested in Korean culture. 1 of 2 Indonesians like Korean things, from movies, dramas, music, and other entertainment programs.

“This Korean wave also influences people’s product preferences and becomes an inspiration for them in daily life, and this is proven as Korean products are the most sought after by iStyle.id customers,” iStyle’s CEO, Steven Calvin Victory said.

The changes made by the company last year started from changes in the organizational structure and also from the lessons learned during the four years of operation.

Pandemi and plans in 2022

During the pandemic, iStyle saw a change in the lifestyle of most of their users. The pandemic has changed people’s shopping behavior in fulfilling their needs, proven by the significant increase in the groceries category at the beginning of the pandemic (March-May 2020).

iStyle’s CMO, Ardi Sudarto revealed to DailySocial that demographically, the platform’s main users are women aged 22-35 years. However, iStyle also targets users aged 18-22 and above 35 as it is in line with the products offered.

These users are mostly live in big cities in Indonesia such as Jabodetabek, Surabaya, Makassar, and Medan. Currently, iStyle has reached 1.5 million members with 2.5 million monthly visitors.

“In 2021, as people getting used to shopping online, there are also improvements in other categories such as beauty, Korean fashion, and sports, especially at certain times,” Ardi said.

Next year, the company is to launch several initiatives, including strengthening the Online-to-Offline (O2O) shopping experience through the iStyle.id Offline Store such as Marhen J x iStyle for K-Fashion located at Lotte Shopping Avenue, K-Point. which is a Korean Convenience Store located at Wisma 46, and other offline stores.

“This is necessary for customers can see directly the products sold on iStyle and can shop online and offline easily,” Ardi added.

Was founded in 2017, this site has adopted the mall in mall concept which provides alternative solutions for shopping products from Lotte Shopping Avenue, LotteMart grocery store, Planet Sports, Kidz Station, Lejel Home Shopping, K-Mall, Kinokuniya, and Best Denki. The various brands that are partnered with, move shopping habits at malls into one application and can be accessed anytime.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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Perkembangan dan Strategi Bisnis iStyle Setelah Rebranding

Besarnya permintaan akan produk kecantikan dan gaya hidup menjadi fokus bagi iStyle, selaku platform e-commerce berkonsep online mall. Setelah melakukan rebranding tahun lalu, kini mereka terus fokus melakukan perluasan lini produk, termasuk dengan menghadirkan brand fashion Korea seperti Marhen J & Find Kapoor diikuti dengan berbagai merchandise dan album K-Pop.

Fokusnya perusahaan kepada produk asal Korea didukung dengan riset yang dirilis oleh Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) di tahun 2021, Indonesia merupakan negara dengan minat yang tinggi akan Korean wave. Berdasarkan riset tersebut Indonesia merupakan negara ke-4 tertinggi di dunia yang paling tertarik dengan budaya Korea. 1 dari 2 orang Indonesia menyukai hal-hal yang berbau Korea, mulai dari film, drama, musik, dan acara hiburan lainnya.

“Tren Korean wave ini ikut memengaruhi preferensi produk masyarakat dan menjadi inspirasi bagi mereka untuk menjalani kehidupan sehari-hari, dan ini terlihat dari bagaimana produk-produk Korea menjadi yang paling banyak diminati oleh pelanggan iStyle.id,” ungkap CEO iStyle Steven Calvin Victory.

Perubahan yang dilakukan perusahaan tahun lalu, bermula dari perubahan struktur organisasi dan juga dari hasil pembelajaran selama empat tahun beroperasi.

Pandemi dan rencana tahun 2022

Selama pandemi, iStyle melihat telah terjadi perubahan gaya hidup dari kebanyakan pengguna mereka. Pandemi mengubah perilaku berbelanja masyarakat dalam memenuhi kebutuhan, dilihat dari peningkatan signifikan dari kategori groceries di awal pandemi (Maret-Mei 2020) silam.

Kepada DailySocial.id, CMO iStyle Ardi Sudarto mengungkapkan, secara demografi pengguna utama mereka adalah perempuan berumur 22-35 tahun. Namun pengguna di umur 18-22 dan di atas 35 juga menjadi target pengguna iStyle, karena sejalan dengan produk yang ditawarkan.

Pengguna tersebut pada umumnya tinggal di kota-kota besar di Indonesia seperti Jabodetabek, Surabaya, Makassar, dan Medan. Saat ini iStyle telah memiliki jumlah anggota mencapai 1,5 juta dengan pengunjung bulanan 2,5 juta.

“Di tahun 2021, karena masyarakat sudah terbiasa berbelanja online, peningkatan di kategori lain seperti beauty, Korean fashion, dan sports juga terlihat terlebih pada saat tertentu,” kata Ardi.

Tahun depan ada beberapa rencana yang ingin dilancarkan oleh perusahaan, di antaranya adalah penguatan pengalaman belanja Online-to-Offline (O2O) lewat Offline Store iStyle.id seperti Marhen J x iStyle untuk K-Fashion yang berada di Lotte Shopping Avenue, K-Point yang merupakan Korean Convenience Store yang berada di Wisma 46, dan toko-toko offline lainnya.

“Hal ini dilakukan agar pelanggan bisa melihat langsung produk yang di jual di iStyle dan bisa berbelanja online dan offline dengan mudah,” kata Ardi.

Sejak dirilis pada 2017, situs ini mengambil konsep mall in mall yang memberikan solusi alternatif belanja produk dari Lotte Shopping Avenue, LotteMart grocery store, Planet Sports, Kidz Station, Lejel Home Shopping, K-Mall, Kinokuniya, dan Best Denki. Berbagai brand yang digandeng ini, memindahkan kebiasaan belanja di mal ke dalam satu aplikasi dan bisa diakses kapan saja.

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iLOTTE Berganti Nama Jadi iStyle, Pertajam Fokus ke Produk Gaya Hidup

iLOTTE, situs e-commerce besutan Salim Group dan Lotte Group, mengumumkan rebranding menjadi iStyle memasuki tahun ketiganya. Perubahan tersebut menajamkan strategi perusahaan dengan nama badan hukum PT Indo Lotte Makmur ini dalam menyediakan produk gaya hidup yang lebih beragam.

Per 15 November 2020, situs domain iLOTTE sudah dialihkan ke situs terbaru, tampilan UI/UX juga diperbarui untuk menyesuaikan fokus barunya. Pun untuk aplikasi, pengguna akan diarahkan untuk memperbarui ke versi terbaru.

Perwakilan perusahaan yang dihubungi DailySocial menerangkan, brand iStyle dianggap lebih mewakili posisi perusahaan dengan nuansa yang lebih fresh, young, dan menjawab kebutuhan penggunanya. iStyle kini fokus menyediakan berbagai produk gaya hidup, termasuk di dalamnya produk kecantikan, fesyen, olahraga, dan kebutuhan harian.

Ia juga menjelaskan, tidak ada perubahan model bisnis dari perubahan merek ini. Malah, penambahan fitur dan pengalaman belanja dengan hadirnya konsep K-Hub, sebuah platform media yang bisa diakses semua orang mencari informasi dan tren terkini.

“iStyle membawa harapan untuk tidak hanya menjadi situs e-commerce, namun juga bisa mencari tren-tren dan informasi terkini mengenai gaya hidup, mulai dari produk kecantikan, Korea, fashion, dan gaya hidup lainnya,” terangnya.

Sejak iLOTTE pertama kali dirilis pada 2017, situs ini mengambil konsep mall in mall yang memberikan solusi alternatif belanja produk dari Lotte Shopping Avenue, LotteMart grocery store, Planet Sports, Kidz Station, Lejel Home Shopping, K-Mall, Kinokuniya, dan Best Denki. Berbagai brand yang digandeng ini, memindahkan kebiasaan belanja di mal ke dalam satu aplikasi dan bisa diakses kapan saja.

Lebih lanjut dipaparkan, berdasarkan data yang ditarik di internal, sepanjang tahun ini terjadi peningkatan hingga empat kali lipat untuk jumlah member dan trafik yang masuk, terlebih ketika masa PSBB total pada Maret lalu. Sayangnya, tidak disertai data pendukung yang disertakan.

Sementara produk yang paling banyak dicari adalah produk kecantikan seperti skincare dan make up, produk olahraga, dan kebutuhan harian. “Insight yang menarik adalah perubahan perilaku belanja di masa pandemi, di mana peningkatan untuk pemesanan kebutuhan harian meningkat secara signifikan, tetap tinggi walaupun PSBB total sudah tidak diberlakukan,” pungkasnya.

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Sociolla Receives 169 Billion Rupiah Investment from EV Growth

Sociolla, an e-commerce platform for beauty products, announces investment worth of $12 million (about Rp169 billion) led by EV Growth, istyle Inc. (Japanese beauty platform), and Singapore’s big institution (undisclosed).

EV Growth is a new fund under East Ventures, Sinar Mas Digital Ventures (SMDV), and Yahoo Japan Digital, focused on Series B funding and higher. This fund is actively operating in the second quarter of 2018.

Willson Cuaca, EV Growth partner, said in the official release that East Ventures has been supporting Sociolla since 2015 through seed funding. They already see its worth and readiness to win the beauty tech category in Indonesia.

“Through the additional funding, we want to tighten Sociolla’s position as the leading beauty tech company in Indonesia including the support of strategic partnership with a global player, istyle,” he said.

Shinichiro Hori, EV Growth partner, added, “From the market’s point of view, we’re optimist the beauty sector will be very promising. Beauty technology has been proved by istyle Japan, and their support will earn big for Sociolla in the future. We’re thrilled about this partnership.”

Investment utilization

Chrisanti Indiana, Sociolla’s Co-Founder, explained company will use fresh funding for the development of a new platform Soco (Sociolla Connect) which just launched earlier this year. It is a digital beauty platform, combined with e-commerce and media.

This platform completes the two existing beauty platform, Sociolla and Beauty Journal (media), using single sign on technology to facilitate users in accessing various contents from Beauty Journal and UGC (User Generated Content).

Therefore, users can manage their purchases in Sociolla and join digital beauty community, get the relevant product recommendations that match their profile and interest.

“Users that already registered in Soco can also contribute as content creators and interact or share with the other fellow beauty enthusiasts,” she said.

She thinks of Soco presence as to complete Sociolla’s mission of helping and building the future of beauty industry using technology.

In addition to Soco, the company will use the fresh funding for marketing plan distributed through Sociolla. The company will partners with global’s most popular beauty brands interested to enter Indonesia’s market.

Currently, there are more than 150 international brands sell its products through Sociolla, also seven brands from Asia and Australia have signed a direct distribution agreement with the company.

The company also partners with one of istyle shareholders and gives access to 14 million beauty product’s reviews from Cosme and Make Up Alley (US’s beauty site). The site has been acquired by istyle last year.

istyle enters Sociolla through Series B funding in January 2017, previously, the company had received Series A funding from Venturra Capital in November 2015.

Cumulatively, Sociolla managed to collect more than 12 million visitors to enter the site last year, it’s about 1 out of 9 women in the target market located in Indonesia.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian