BSD, Serpong, 20 November 2019 – Over the past several years, Indonesia has continued to record steady growth in its digital economy. Data from early 2019 showed that e-commerce platforms accounted for up to 20% of total sales among Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies. This contribution was expected  to continue rising and had grown tenfold compared with 2017. One of the key drivers behind this growth was Indonesia’s large working-age population. Younger consumers, with their increasingly modern and fast-paced lifestyles, were helping shift shopping behaviour from conventional channels towards online platforms.

To respond to changing consumer shopping behaviour and the rapid growth of Indonesia’s e-commerce industry, Unilever officially partnered with SIRCLO, a technology company that provides solutions to help brands sell online, as the official e-commerce enabler for its digital sales channels.

The partnership began in September 2019 with the management of the Mitra Tokopedia channel. Unilever is now preparing to further strengthen its e-commerce business with SIRCLO, in line with Unilever Global’s strategy to expand its digital operations. Under this partnership, SIRCLO manages 38 Unilever brand accounts across the food, beverage, home care, and personal care categories.

According to Brian Marshal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SIRCLO, FMCG companies can increase sales through online marketplaces in three ways: improving the effectiveness of production and merchandising processes, optimising promotions, and providing strong customer service. Through SIRCLO Commerce, SIRCLO’s channel management solution for enterprise brands, Unilever receives end-to-end support to grow its e-commerce business across multiple marketplace channels in Indonesia.

As one of Indonesia’s leading FMCG companies, with a portfolio of 44 brands, Unilever is committed to delivering value to consumers through quality products such as Sunsilk, Lifebuoy, Bango, Royco, Vixal, Superpel, Sariwangi, and many others. In line with this commitment to making quality everyday products more accessible to Indonesian consumers, Unilever aims to stay closer to its customers and provide a more convenient shopping experience by expanding its presence across multiple e-commerce channels. SIRCLO supports Unilever in integrating and growing its business across various marketplaces, including the Groceries Official Store on Lazada, Official Stores on Tokopedia and Bukalapak, and the St. Ives Official Store on Tokopedia.

The partnership agreement was signed at Grha Unilever in BSD-Serpong, with representatives from SIRCLO’s Board of Directors and Unilever’s E-Commerce Department in attendance. “SIRCLO provides Unilever with an end-to-end channel management service covering merchandising, order delivery and inventory warehousing, warehouse management, customer service, and order fulfilment,” Brian explained.

Hira Triadi, Unilever’s E-Commerce Director, stated that e-commerce was one of the company’s effective sales channels. “Through this channel, our products can be brought closer to consumers and made more easily accessible across Indonesia. We hope this partnership will help grow Unilever’s business and that SIRCLO’s services will enable us to market our products even more widely,” he added.

“With this partnership, we hope to help Unilever reach a broader customer base while addressing existing business challenges, ultimately maximising its sales potential across online channels,” Brian Marshal added.

For more than 85 years, Unilever has been one of Indonesia’s largest FMCG companies, reaching hundreds of thousands of supermarkets, stores, and small retailers across the country. Now, together with SIRCLO, Unilever is ready to make its quality products accessible to even more consumers across Indonesia through a broader digital presence.

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About SIRCLO

Founded in 2013, SIRCLO is a technology company that provides solutions to help brands and business owners sell online. SIRCLO offers two products: SIRCLO Store and SIRCLO Commerce. SIRCLO Store is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that enables small and medium-sized local businesses to build their own online stores. To date, it has supported nearly 1,000 active paying users in building their brands and expanding their businesses online, including ATS The Label, Benscrub, Namaste Organic, and This Is April.

SIRCLO Commerce is a channel management solution designed to help enterprise brands expand into online distribution channels. Powered by technology that synchronises sales across multiple marketplaces, SIRCLO Commerce is trusted by leading brands including Reckitt Benckiser, KAO, Arnott’s, Kellogg’s, L'Oréal, PepsiCo, and Minimal. For more information about SIRCLO, visit www.sirclo.com.