#Asia This Indonesian e-commerce platform is free-kicking into sports apparel category

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Jakarta-based Asports is also looking forward to setting up its own sports brand

2016.04.07

The rise of e-commerce in Indonesia has given birth to all sort of platforms, from sites that sell everything-you-want such as Tokopedia and Bukalapak, to those that cater to more specific interests such as agricultural products marketplace Sikumis and the local version of Etsy Qlapa.

Asports easily falls into the latter category.

“We would like provide ease for Indonesian public to choose and buy all kinds of product related to sports, from individual to group sports,” said Asports Founder & CEO Erlangga Negara.

Asports is a one-stop online shopping platform for sports and lifestyle products and apparels. It sells gloves, football club merchandises, apparels, accessories, sport equipments, shoes, bags, racket, balls, among the few.

It also offers an ‘affiliate marketing’ programme for website owners and bloggers who wish to make extra income by becoming a partner of Asports.

All they have to do is register on the Asports site, get their websites and blogs reviewed, then they can display links to the Asports site on their websites and blogs. Sales coming from affiliate sites will then be tracked to determine commission.

Launched in October 2015, Asports is currently run by a team of six that handles programming, merchandising, customer service, admin and finance, as well as digital marketing.

The Jakarta-based company was funded through bootstrapping though Negara stated that it is currently preparing itself for fundraising.

It claims to have 10,000 registered members with less than 100 deliveries per day.

“We know that this number is still small, but it’s because we are currently on growth process,” Negara said.

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Asports’s story began in 2011 when Negara partnered with the official license holder of popular British sports brand Mitre to set up its e-commerce platform.

“In 2015, my business partner decided to acquire another brand, which is Lotto … And then I thought, if I set up another platform only to sell Lotto products, then it will double the focus, resources, and costs needed. Then I saw a great opportunity for sports apparel business in Indonesia, especially with the rapid growth of e-commerce,” Negara wrote in an e-mail to e27.

At the beginning, Asports only sold products from Mitre and Lotto, but the company then expanded its offering by partnering with more brands.

Like many other startups, Negara cited funding and price competition as the main challenges faced by the business.

“Every day we need to work smart to make sure that our products are sold well in the market. We need to always focus on customers, and to improve continuously by expanding our products and prices offering, customer service, and customer-targetting through paid and organic channels,” Negara said.

Also Read: 5 live streaming apps every sports geek should look out for

When it comes to competition, apart from competing with more generic e-commerce platforms, Negara cited Sportsdeca as the company’s direct competitor.

But the founder is confident with Asports’s ability to compete.

“We provide a customised order service that our competitor may not provide, like custom-made balls, bags, jerseys, or shoes,” he explained, also adding that the customised purchase is usually ordered by corporate clients.

“I know that running an e-commerce business today is not easy since there many e-commerce giants with big marketing budgets … But with consistency and focus on customers, I believe that this website will continue to survive and grow,” Negara stated.

When it comes to future plan, Asports is currently preparing to raise for funding. Part of its long-term goal is to set up an offline store and expand to Asia, but Negara also has another goal in mind.

“In the next few months, we are going to have our own brand for balls and other products,” he concluded.

The post This Indonesian e-commerce platform is free-kicking into sports apparel category appeared first on e27.

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