The Indonesian fashion e-commerce startup also announced new features and fashion lines

Indonesian fashion e-commerce platform Berrybenka today announced that they have raised an “eight digit” US dollar new investment from Maj Invest Private Equity, Asia Summit Capital, Softbank-Indosat Fund, and several undisclosed local investors.

The startup stated that the investment has been secured since Q4 2016. Previously, Berrybenka had raised a US$5 million Series B round in 2013.

In a media briefing event in South Jakarta, Berrybenka CEO Jason Lamuda explained that the funding will be used for marketing and user acquisition, acquiring and maintaining talent, and maintaining inventory cycle.

Together with the new investment, Berrybenka also announced its key strategies for 2017.

Also Read: Invest in a strong team right from the start: BerryBenka CEO to startups

The startup will continue to push on its online-to-offline approach, which it has been executing since 2016, with the launch of 10 to 15 pop-up stores and six to 10 permanent stores. It will also start hosting pop-up store events in new Indonesian cities such as Pontianak, Balikpapan, and Ambon.

Lamuda stated that Berrybenka’s offline stores play an important role in driving sales for the company. A single pop-up store is held in shopping malls for three to six months; the startup claimed that within six months, a pop-up store is able to increase overall city sales by two to four times. It also increased online sales for 1.5 to two times.

“Selling online and offline are two complimentary things, which supports each other … And omnichannel is the way to go. And being omnichannel is not just a matter of having both a website and an [offline] store. When you’re in fashion, the more channels you have, the better,” explained Lamuda.

Berrybenka will also launch a new “personal shopper” feature for its loyal customers. Manned by two to three in-house customer service staffs, the feature allows users to get fashion advice via messenger apps such as WhatsApp. Users can also receive priority after-sales service and access to pre-launch promos.

Berrybenka will also launch new fashion lines Berrybenka Curve (for plus size customers) and Berrybenka Premium (for high-end fashion products).

Also Read: BerryBenka launches new mobile web channel and fashion e-magazine

According to the startup, their private label collection contributed at least 40 per cent of sales.

In general, Berrybenka claimed more than 100 per cent year-on-year increase of revenue and gross profit in 2016, despite having had laid off some of its employees in September.

The main driver of this number is increasing purchase frequency and incoming new customers.

The startup also claimed to experience increasing number of customers from cities outside of Greater Jakarta Area. In 2015, 60 per cent of Berrybenka customers came from Greater Jakarta Area. The number had decreased by 10 per cent as users other cities grow.

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