東南亞未來的超級app Gojek將在新加坡大膽擴(kuò)張

肯尼斯·G·黃

當(dāng)超級app Grab在2021年12月2日于納斯達(dá)克上市時，人們對其寄予了厚望。

Grab為東南亞各科技平臺提供了前車之鑒，此后，人們開始關(guān)注Grab最大的競爭對手——由印尼Gojek和印尼電商龍頭Tokopedia合并而成的東南亞第二大科技巨頭GoTo集團(tuán)。

GoTo集團(tuán)于2021年11月籌資13億美元，計(jì)劃于2022年初進(jìn)行首次公開募股。

其后，Gojek決定加注新加坡市場。在將泰國的業(yè)務(wù)剝離轉(zhuǎn)讓給亞洲航空后，Gojek聲稱其計(jì)劃在新加坡開展更多業(yè)務(wù)。

Gojek進(jìn)軍新加坡市場會帶來哪些變化？

Gojek會在新加坡扎根嗎？也許它和其他跨國公司一樣，想保持自己在國際門戶新加坡中的存在感。真正的問題是，Gojek如何保持自己的競爭力優(yōu)勢并長期存續(xù)下去？它能為客戶提供什么獨(dú)特的服務(wù)？

這個問題對Gojek來說至關(guān)重要，它必須先明確如何在這個競爭激烈、日漸飽和的市場中與Grab和康福德高這樣的市場主宰競爭。

由于激烈的競爭環(huán)境，單純復(fù)制他人的出租車和外賣等服務(wù)模式還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠。當(dāng)初競爭全靠價格戰(zhàn)、優(yōu)惠活動、各種折扣的日子也已經(jīng)一去不復(fù)返了。

Gojek通過科技創(chuàng)新、成本領(lǐng)先戰(zhàn)略和自身經(jīng)濟(jì)規(guī)模與經(jīng)營范圍等優(yōu)勢將競爭手段提高了一個檔次，在諸多競爭對手中鶴立雞群。

Gojek和Tokopedia完成了價值數(shù)十億的合并，創(chuàng)立了GoTo集團(tuán)，為Gojek帶來了嶄新的機(jī)遇和顯著的競爭優(yōu)勢。

截至2022年1月，Gojek已入駐新加坡3年整。新加坡會成為Gojek一塊優(yōu)秀的試驗(yàn)田。

雖然新加坡的用戶只能使用Gojek的打車功能，但其實(shí)GoTo集團(tuán)在總部印尼能提供涵蓋生活方方面面的服務(wù)：從網(wǎng)購到打車再從外賣到快遞，應(yīng)有盡有。這些服務(wù)都有可能被Gojek引進(jìn)新加坡，觀察市場反響。

如今，GoTo集團(tuán)是東南亞最大的私營科技集團(tuán)，但Gojek和Tokopedia目前并不打算合并業(yè)務(wù)，而是準(zhǔn)備提升在支付、物流、外賣等方面的統(tǒng)一整合。

Gojek能提供嶄新的騎手服務(wù)和更及時的外賣服務(wù)

如果Gojek將以上提到的業(yè)務(wù)擴(kuò)展到新加坡，消費(fèi)者就能有更多更有競爭力的價格選擇。就像Grab外賣提供榴蓮、月餅、米其林餐點(diǎn)配送一樣，消費(fèi)者也有機(jī)會看到Gojek在新加坡提供如上服務(wù)。

通過該app強(qiáng)大的外送數(shù)據(jù)分析功能，Gojek能從用戶數(shù)據(jù)中獲取更多關(guān)鍵信息，使其更準(zhǔn)確地預(yù)測客戶需求，提供食物、日用品、出行等方面的精準(zhǔn)推送。

隨著電子商務(wù)和交通運(yùn)輸?shù)恼弦约皵?shù)據(jù)分析中心的開設(shè)，Gojek能高效捆綁配送訂單，讓騎手能在同一時間內(nèi)就近在同一家商場或者同一家餐飲店取貨送貨。

同時，有了Gojek的沉浸式導(dǎo)航，能讓騎手找到印尼臨時施工的近路以及樓宇間汽車無法通行的小路。也許他們從此就能找到?jīng)]人發(fā)現(xiàn)的送貨路線，極大提升運(yùn)輸效率。

但更大的疑問在于，Gojek能否像在印尼一樣提供大量的摩托出租車服務(wù)，能否為摩托車駕駛員提供安全保障等。Gojek之前就分析測試了單人乘客行程數(shù)據(jù)，并對前往新冠疫苗接種中心的用戶精準(zhǔn)提供折扣。這些跡象表明Gojek已有提供摩托出租車的意圖。

Gojek會不會給外賣騎手配備電動摩托車也是一個問題。Gojek在雅加達(dá)與Gogoro智能電車合作完成了一項(xiàng)電動車試點(diǎn)項(xiàng)目。結(jié)果表明，平臺的騎手留存率比Grab和Foodpanda都要好。電車計(jì)劃也與Gojek的聲明相吻合。Gojek曾在聲明中表示，在2030年，平臺的所有轎車和摩托車將全面換為電動型號。

還有一個問題——Gojek的“先買后付”計(jì)劃能否向公眾開放？

東南亞的下一個超級app

在未來5～10年中，Gojek公司希望齊心奮進(jìn)，計(jì)劃讓公司建立起一個多層面的平臺，供買賣雙方交流，讓雙方在網(wǎng)購、外賣、出行、快遞和其他服務(wù)上達(dá)成劃算的交易。

公司的總體目標(biāo)在于打造一個有活力的服務(wù)生態(tài)，并通過互補(bǔ)方完善生態(tài)內(nèi)的產(chǎn)品、服務(wù)、創(chuàng)新等元素，從而讓平臺創(chuàng)造和掌控更多的價值。

除了為消費(fèi)者提供一站式的app，這些新創(chuàng)造的價值還能回饋到消費(fèi)者身上。這樣一來，既能對物流業(yè)的Grab產(chǎn)生競爭優(yōu)勢，又能在電商層面挑戰(zhàn)Shopee和Lazada等平臺。

新加坡作為諸多科技公司的總部，必定能為Gojek帶來越來越多的合作機(jī)遇。

為什么Gojek一定要走環(huán)保路線？

在文末，筆者希望提醒Gojek一句：貴公司應(yīng)該把品牌形象定位成在環(huán)境、社會、治理（ESG）等方面有突出貢獻(xiàn)的行業(yè)領(lǐng)袖。

交通行業(yè)因?yàn)樘寂欧艈栴}一直受到外界的詬病，Gojek也應(yīng)該早就意識到了這點(diǎn)，因此正在做出改變。在Gojek剛發(fā)布的ESG報告中，公司承諾將在2030年達(dá)成“零碳排放，零浪費(fèi)，零障礙”目標(biāo)。公司也強(qiáng)調(diào)了它將專注于推動社會經(jīng)濟(jì)進(jìn)步、促進(jìn)構(gòu)建平等和包容的社會。

Gojek提出的愿景能引起消費(fèi)者的價值觀共鳴，尤其是快速增長的年輕客戶群體。這些群體越來越看重公司對環(huán)境、社會、治理方面的貢獻(xiàn)，并且會影響他們對產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)的選擇。

在Gojek扎根新加坡甚至放眼東南亞時，如果遵循以上的戰(zhàn)略選擇，它就能同時惠及平臺的消費(fèi)者、工作人員、互補(bǔ)方、賣家和買家等。

對于消費(fèi)者來說，Gojek是Grab和康福德高這些巨頭之外的第三個選擇，能帶來更有活力的競爭環(huán)境，保證服務(wù)質(zhì)量和價格維持在合理水平。

而平臺工作人員和互補(bǔ)方也能從Gojek中獲得更多的機(jī)遇，開展不同類型的工作，并提升他們在公司間的議價能力和工作選擇。

對于買賣雙方來說，多一個平臺就代表著更多的產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)門類。

Gojek的崛起也代表著以上人群不再只能遵循占主導(dǎo)地位的市場規(guī)則。從長遠(yuǎn)來看，這對于激發(fā)市場活力，保持健康市場環(huán)境有利。

真正關(guān)鍵的問題在于，Gojek能否開拓出一個適合自己的細(xì)分市場來保持自己在新加坡的市場占有率，以便在新加坡這個重要的國際樞紐中蓬勃發(fā)展，并最終在上市時獲得更高的估值。

來源：亞洲新聞臺

編譯：謝宗鳴

本文僅代表作者觀點(diǎn)，不代表本刊立場

Anticipation was high when superapp Grab listed on the NASDAQ on December 2， 2021.

After trail-blazing a path for other Southeast Asia tech platforms， all eyes are now on its arch nemesis， the region’s second largest tech behemoth， GoTo Group， formed by Indonesia’s Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia.

GoTo raised US$ 1.3 billion in November ahead of an initial public offering planned for in early 2022.

Gojek then decided to invest further in Singapore， announcing plans to introduce more services here， after hiving off Thailand operations to AirAsia.

What to expect as Gojek expands in Singapore？

Should Gojek remain in Singapore？ Perhaps it wants to maintain a continued presence in the gateway to the world and where many MNCs have set up their headquarters.

The question becomes， how can the company ensure its sustainable competitive advantage and survival in the long term？ What can it do differently for its app users？

This is an important question for Gojek as it figures out how to compete with dominant players like Grab and ComfortDelGro in this highly competitive， saturated market.

Given the intense competition， simply replicating the same set of services — taxi services and food delivery — is not enough. Gone are the days of price wars， heavily laced with incentives and discounts.

Instead， Gojek must take things to the next level to differentiate itself from its competitors， through technological innovation and cost leadership， and leverage the advantages offered by economies of scale and scope.

The multi-billion-dollar merger between Gojek and Tokopedia to form the GoTo Group presents new and exciting opportunities as well as competitive advantages for Gojek.

Come January it’ll be three years since Gojek landed on Singapore shores. The city-state can serve as a useful testbed.

Although Singapore users can only access its ride-hailing services， GoTo today provides a comprehensive set of services including online shopping， ride-hailing， food delivery， courier and other services in its home base of Indonesia — services it can port over to Singapore to see how the market responds.

Currently the biggest privately held technology company in Southeast Asia， Gojek and Tokopedia in the GoTo Group currently plan to remain separate but provide better integration on payments， logistics and food deliveries.

Gojek could offer motorcycle services and faster deliveries

If Gojek expands these offerings to Singapore， consumers can expect more options at competitive prices. Just as GrabFood opened up Michelin-starred meals， durian and mooncakes for delivery， consumers could expect fresh offerings from Gojek in Singapore.

With more powerful data analytics capabilities delivered through its app， Gojek can gain new insights from customer data， more accurately predict customer needs and provide better recommendations to users on food， household items and transportation needs.

With the integration of e-commerce and transportation， and the opening of a data centre here to leverage these insights， Gojek may have the capability to better bundle orders so that one driver can collect and make many deliveries from the same marts and F&B outlets at the same time.

And with Gojek’s immense experience helping motorcyclists find shortcuts through makeshift roads and small spaces between buildings cars cannot go through in Indonesia， perhaps they can offer undiscovered routes for deliverers here that massively enhance the efficiency of deliveries.

The bigger question is whether Gojek can offer pillion motorcycle passenger services in the way they do in Indonesia and if passengers will bite. Why else is it already testing out single-customer trips — and offering discounts for those heading to COVID-19 vaccination centres？

Could it offer an electric motorcycle service to delivery riders — after its pilot with Gogoro Smartscooters completes in Jakarta， locking in riders better than Grab or even Foodpanda？ This move would be in line with its statement that it aims to make every car and motorcycle on its app an electric vehicle by 2030.

And will Gojek’s Buy Now Pay Later schemes be made available to users？

The next superapp in Southeast Asia

In the next five to 10 years， such concerted efforts could allow Gojek to build a multi-sided platform to bring sellers and buyers together， starting with online shopping， food delivery， ride-hailing， courier and other services in a cost-effective manner.

The overall goal is to create a vibrant ecosystem with complementors adding to its product and service offerings and innovations and hence， add more value to the platform it created and controls.

In addition to the one-stop “app” for consumers， these savings could be passed on to consumers and pose significant competition to current players not only in the logistics space like Grab but also in the e-commerce space like Shopee and Lazada.

Singapore being home to many tech companies surely offers opportunities for collaboration that Gojek may only be starting to discover.

Why Gojek must go green

A word of caution for Gojek before this commentary ends： The firm should also rebrand itself as an industry leader in environmental， social and governance （ESG） efforts.

Transport tends to get a bad reputation for carbon emissions， something Gojek probably already recognises and is seeking to change. In its recently launched ESG report， Gojek pledged to achieve “zero emissions， zero waste and zero barriers” by 2030. It has also highlighted its singular focus on socio-economic progress， equality and inclusion.

This vision would resonate well with the values of their consumers， especially a rapidly growing group of young customers who view a company’s ESG efforts as an increasingly important criteria in choosing their service and product offerings.

Gojek’s staying in Singapore， and more broadly in Southeast Asia， to pursue these strategic options will benefit consumers， platform workers， complementors， sellers and buyers using this platform.

For consumers， it provides an alternative to incumbent players such as Grab and ComfortDelGro， which helps keep pricing and quality of services competitive.

Platform workers and complementors of Gojek enjoy more opportunities and different types of work engagements as well as a boost to their bargaining power and work options.

For the sellers and buyers， an alternative platform implies greater variety and selection of products and services being offered.

It also means that they do not have to conform to one dominant set of rules in the market， which facilitates a more vibrant and healthier marketplace in the long term.

The key question is whether it can carve a niche for itself that not only allows it to maintain a significant presence in Singapore but also enable it to thrive in this important hub to the world — and score a better valuation when it finally lists.

· Source： Channel News Asia

The article only represents author’s views， not the stand of the magazine

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