Indonesia’s first jewellery e-commerce player Orori eyes US$25 mil GMV by 2020

• Indonesia’s jewellery market is worth US$8 billion
• Orori plans to double the number of products and merchants by the end of 2017

WHEN it comes to jewellery, Indonesia’s first jewellery e-commerce player PT Orori Indonesia (Orori) believes that jewellery is not only for a certain class of society, but for everybody. This conviction is the main reason behind its dive into e-commerce.

“We want to democratise jewellery. We want people to be able to look and choose their own designs without worrying too much about the price. In Orori, we offer a wide range of prices. We have everything from gold to diamonds, as well as precious metals for investment,” its chief executive officer George B. Soemantri told Digital News Asia (DNA) in an email.

Orori sells a wide range of jewellery from wedding rings and engagement rings to bracelets, pendants, earrings, diamonds, and precious metals. It also enables customers to design their own jewellery.

The e-commerce platform currently has two million customer based, with thousands of transaction each month. George declined to provide specific numbers to DNA.

In September last year, Orori secured a seven-figure Series A funding from investment company Indonusa Dwitama along with existing investors East Ventures, 500 Startups, IMJ Investment Partners, and other undisclosed investors. Indonusa Dwitama was also an early backer of Tokopedia,

At the time, investors believed that Indonesia’s jewellery market was worth US$8 billion and would continue to grow, especially with the help of a trusted e-commerce platform, which had emerged from a traditional brick and mortar jewellery trader.

“The fresh capital will be used for marketing purposes, as well as overall company development,” George said in a statement.

To be specific, George wants to turn the company into the most reputable online jewellery retailer globally and is eyeing US$25 million in gross merchandising volume (GMV) in 2019, with 80,000 annual transactions.

When asked how he planned to do this, he explained that he would begin by internationalising the e-commerce site and adding multiple languages in the hope that it will open the doors to overseas customers.

The company currently has more than 40,000 product items on their platform along with six merchants. Orori plans to double both the product and merchant numbers by the end of this year.

It has also introduced more features such as Group Buy, where a minimum of two customers can buy certain items of jewellery for a larger discount, Online Auction, and Special Pick where the company offers discounts of up to 60% on specified products.

While the platform is still a business-to-consumer (B2C) model, the company is looking to launch consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and consumer-to-business (C2B) features by the end of 2017.

“Our vision is to provide our customers with a seamless experience in jewellery trading. We want to provide a full ecosystem,” he added.

E-commerce: A daring but essential step

Orori started as a brick and mortar business in 2004, with stores spread across Jakarta’s biggest malls and shopping centres. Seeing the digital trend picking up in 2012, George decided to close all Orori’s physical stores and move the operations online.

He admitted that it was a daring move, yet essential, since there is still no player in the South East Asia (SEA) region focusing solely on gems, gold, and jewellery. However, George is seeing similar business models from players in India such as Bluestone and Caratlane.

“Yes there are still people who like to shop in a physical store, but when you look closely at the urban population, young couples who plan to get married and the young people who are looking for Mother’s Day gifts, love the practicality and ease of access that the e-commerce world offers.

“We have built our reputation as an offline jewellery retailer since 2004, and I think now it is time to follow the trend by opening up the market to everyone across the country, and hopefully the world,” George added.

The majority of the products sold by Orori are designed by the company itself. However, it also has other merchants’ products with payment method promotions embedded to make it more appealing.

“Our in-house jewellery are all made with a computer-aided design method, so once our designer has the final design, it will be printed with a 3D printer first to ensure that the quality is top notch,” he continued.

According to George, the technology used in designing the jewellery, combined with e-commerce as main distribution platform, helps the company to sell high quality jewellery at affordable prices.

Features to impress

Knowing that trust is still the main challenge for most people shopping online, especially for jewellery, Orori offers an informative page on choosing diamonds on their site, as well as advice about gold, and relevant blogs.

“All of our diamonds are certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), and we also ensure that all the specifications are written in a clear manner on our website, from what carat of gold, to what type of plating we use, estimated weight, diamond cut and clarity,” George explained.

The platform also shows the payment programme that can be used to buy certain jewellery such as bank instalments, or a cashback programme.

On the product description page the company also offers guidelines to finger size, in order to help customers choose the right size for any rings they buy.

“In the end if customers are not happy with our products, we have our 100% money back guarantee programme, so they can send back the product and we provide a 100% refund,” he continued.

The platform also has a “Buy through sales agent” choice, where the platform will connect a nearby sales agent to customers directly.

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