Posted on 06 Apr 2015
For entrepreneurs, messaging
applications are not merely used to communicate with family and friends, but
also to enhance business.
Model and actress Alice Sofie Almendingen, popularly known as Alice Norin, has
used mobile-messaging service LINE to support sales activities for her online
fashion shop 8WOOD.
“Buyers usually check our official Facebook, Instagram or Twitter accounts to
check updates of our latest products. However, when it comes to purchasing,
they usually contact us by LINE,” she said, adding that she previously also
used BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).
LINE’s latest application, LINE@, enables sellers to promote their business as
well as communicate with clients and customers, like most people do when
chatting with their family and friends. This has helped minimize costs for
businesses and ease customers’ buying experience.
About a quarter of Indonesia’s estimated 250 million population owns a
smartphone and with its emerging middle class that number is expected to
continue to grow. Hence, mobile-messaging applications will likely become the
favorite tools to communicate or do business.
The number of mobile-messaging application users in Indonesia has been growing
rapidly, with growth last year alone standing at 45 percent, according to
research firm GlobalWebIndex. The firm has estimated that the country will see
between 60 and 70 percent growth in the number of mobile-messaging applications
in a year.
LINE@, launched in February, targets mainly online shops, restaurants and
communities in Indonesia. “The number of LINE@ users in Indonesia is beyond our
expectations. There has been a big volume of downloads, even before it was
officially launched in the country,” LINE Indonesia e-commerce manager Fanny
Verona said.
Fanny said that from the total number of LINE@ users in the country, 40 percent
were online shops, 30 percent were restaurants and the remaining 30 percent
were communities including bloggers and Internet celebrities.
LINE@ enables its users to broadcast messages that can contain not only texts,
but also pictures and stickers. The application also makes it possible for
users to put product catalogues on their profile information and make
customized welcome messages for consumers.
Alice said she saw 8WOOD’s total sales increase by 20 percent in less than a
week after she used LINE@.
Another online retailer, Paroparoshop, which sells gadget accessories, also
uses messaging applications, including LINE@, WhatsApp and BBM. “Mobile
messaging helps us boost the number of followers in a relatively short time,”
said Paroparoshop representative Novita Permatasari.
Voicing a similar view, Gracia Anastasia, the owner of online clothing line
Macadamia House, said that mobile messaging applications such as LINE@ had made
her business more efficient.
“We have seen that around 70 percent of incoming orders placed in an order
format as informed in our mobile messages,” she said, adding that it helped her
to process orders faster.
GlobalWebIndex reported that excluding BBM, WhatsApp had become Indonesia’s
favorite mobile application, with 34 percent of the country’s Internet
subscribers using the application last year.
Facebook Messenger, WeChat and Skype secured shares of 28 percent, 18 percent
and 18 percent, respectively. LINE and KakaoTalk, meanwhile, trailed with 16
percent and 12 percent, respectively.
