TANGERANG, 28 December 2018 – Online retail sales in Indonesia had continued to grow rapidly since 2016. McKinsey projected that the country’s e-commerce market would reach US$65 billion (approximately Rp948 trillion)¹. In Indonesia, online retail sales were growing by 17% annually, significantly outpacing the 5–6% growth recorded by the traditional retail sector².

This meant that merchants and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) needed to prepare for the shift towards digital commerce. With technology advancing rapidly in recent years, consumer purchasing behaviour has increasingly moved towards marketplaces and online stores. This shift was one of the factors that led to the establishment of SIRCLO, an e-commerce solutions provider, in 2013.

“At the time, many business owners I knew wanted to make the shift to online selling, but lacked the resources and budget to hire a digital agency. I saw an opportunity to build an e-commerce platform in Indonesia that could help businesses set up their own online stores more easily and affordably. That idea eventually led to the creation of SIRCLO Store, which was designed specifically to build and manage online store websites for our clients,” said Brian Marshal, CEO and Founder of SIRCLO.

As marketplace platforms expanded rapidly over the previous three years, a growing number of fashion and apparel brands became interested in selling through these channels but faced operational resource constraints. In response, SIRCLO expanded into brand management at the end of 2016 with the launch of SIRCLO Commerce. The service operates as a channel management solution (CMS), enabling brands to sell across multiple marketplace channels while keeping operations synchronised through SIRCLO’s technology platform for greater efficiency and ease of management.

Brian noted that the rapid shift towards online sales had led more brands to seek broader, end-to-end support. “Beyond managing online stores and marketplace channels, SIRCLO Commerce now also handles sales operations for brands, from warehousing and order fulfilment to packing and delivery,” he said.

SIRCLO’s comprehensive and integrated services continued to gain traction. Throughout 2018, SIRCLO Commerce was trusted by a number of leading brands, including KAO, Arnott’s, Kellogg’s, Minimal, Quaker Oats, Reckitt Benckiser, and Stanley Black & Decker.\SIRCLO Store’s local-brand portfolio includes This Is April, which operates more than 40 physical stores, and ATS The Label, a frequent participant in major fashion events such as Jakarta Fashion Week (JFW). It also supports established local labels such as Wearing Klamby and Ittaherl, both of which use the webhunt sales model. Meanwhile, a number of national and international brands, including KAO, Kellogg’s, Quaker Oats, and Reckitt Benckiser, have entrusted their end-to-end online retail operations to SIRCLO Commerce.

“We are grateful for the strong growth SIRCLO achieved in 2018. As the business continues to expand, we remain committed to delivering the best possible service for businesses looking to grow their online sales. By providing end-to-end solutions, from building online store websites to managing brand sales operations through a single platform, we aim to make SIRCLO a practical and accessible one-stop solution for all our clients,” said Ratri E. Rahayu, Marketing Manager at SIRCLO.

Looking ahead to 2019, Ratri remained optimistic that online retail would continue to expand, attracting more businesses across different stages of growth, from newcomers to established players. “In 2019, we are committed to playing an active role in Indonesia’s e-commerce transformation and development. One of our priorities is to strengthen our client guidance programmes, supporting businesses from small and medium-sized enterprises through to larger-scale companies,” Ratri added.

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About SIRCLO

Founded in 2013, SIRCLO is a leading e-commerce solutions company in Indonesia, helping brands grow their online presence. SIRCLO offers four business solutions: SIRCLO Store, SIRCLO Connexi, SIRCLO Chat, and SIRCLO Commerce. SIRCLO Store is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that enables small and medium-sized local businesses to build template-based online stores. SIRCLO Connexi provides an interactive dashboard for managing sales across multiple e-commerce platforms in Indonesia. SIRCLO Chat offers a conversational commerce platform through an interactive dashboard integrated with the WhatsApp Business API. Meanwhile, SIRCLO Commerce provides end-to-end channel management solutions to support enterprise brands in expanding into online distribution channels.

In May 2020, SIRCLO officially merged with ICUBE, a Magento Premier Solutions Partner in Indonesia, strengthening its e-commerce technology development capabilities and expanding its offering with Swift, an omnichannel e-commerce builder. SIRCLO Store has powered the creation of more than 100,000 websites and supported 3,000 brands in growing their businesses online, including ATS The Label, Benscrub, Evete Naturals, Namaste Organic, This Is April, and Heytimmy Kidswear. SIRCLO is also trusted by dozens of clients representing more than 200 leading brands, including Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, KAO, L’Oréal, Eiger, and Levi’s. Headquartered at Green Office Park 1, The Breeze in BSD, Tangerang, SIRCLO currently employs 500 people, with representatives based in Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya.

For more information about SIRCLO, visit www.sirclo.com.