Indonesian unicorn Go-Jek quietly introduced Go-Mall, a new feature that allows users to browse and shop for various items from electronics to groceries through the app.
Go-Jek teamed up with JD.id, the Indonesian e-commerce joint venture of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, in creating the new feature. This partnership between the two companies started after the Chinese e-commerce giant invested USD 100 million in Go-Jek’s Series E funding round.
Go-Mall is possibly the resurrected form of Go-Jek’s former services Go-Mart, which allowed users to shop at supermarkets. Go-Jek had halted the service in 2018 but promised to bring it back in a “more innovative” form.
Before completing a purchase, Go-Jek users must log in with their JD.id credentials or create an account. Go-Mall feature currently shows JD.id page with the possibility to add more shopping pages. However, the tech start-up is adding more shopping pages. There is a high possibility that Go-Jek will add Blibli, which is part of GDP Ventures, another Go-Jek investor.
Go-Jek is on a tight race with rival Grab in Southeast Asia. Grab collaborates with HappyFresh to provide a fresh groceries service, but it doesn’t have a full range of e-commerce categories accessible through its app yet unlike its competitor.
The two ride-hailing companies vie to become a super-app offering a wide range of services in one app. Go-Jek has already partnered with digital media company Kumparan for a news feed feature. More recently, it introduced Go-Komik, a feature that allows users to read comic strips from local comic creators. Meanwhile, Grab is offering payment and delivery services.
