iStyle Business Strategy and Growth Post Rebranding

The large demand for beauty and lifestyle products becomes iStyle's current focus, as an e-commerce platform with an online mall concept. After last year rebranding, they continue to focus on expanding the product line by presenting Korean fashion brands such as Marhen J & Find Kapoor followed by various merchandise and K-Pop albums.

The company's focus on Korean products is supported by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) research in 2021. Indonesia is a country with high interest in the Korean wave. Based on this research, Indonesia positioned in the 4th rank as a country with high interested in Korean culture. 1 of 2 Indonesians like Korean things, from movies, dramas, music, and other entertainment programs.

"This Korean wave also influences people's product preferences and becomes an inspiration for them in daily life, and this is proven as Korean products are the most sought after by iStyle.id customers," iStyle's CEO, Steven Calvin Victory said.

The changes made by the company last year started from changes in the organizational structure and also from the lessons learned during the four years of operation.

Pandemi and plans in 2022

During the pandemic, iStyle saw a change in the lifestyle of most of their users. The pandemic has changed people's shopping behavior in fulfilling their needs, proven by the significant increase in the groceries category at the beginning of the pandemic (March-May 2020).

iStyle's CMO, Ardi Sudarto revealed to DailySocial that demographically, the platform's main users are women aged 22-35 years. However, iStyle also targets users aged 18-22 and above 35 as it is in line with the products offered.

These users are mostly live in big cities in Indonesia such as Jabodetabek, Surabaya, Makassar, and Medan. Currently, iStyle has reached 1.5 million members with 2.5 million monthly visitors.

"In 2021, as people getting used to shopping online, there are also improvements in other categories such as beauty, Korean fashion, and sports, especially at certain times," Ardi said.

Next year, the company is to launch several initiatives, including strengthening the Online-to-Offline (O2O) shopping experience through the iStyle.id Offline Store such as Marhen J x iStyle for K-Fashion located at Lotte Shopping Avenue, K-Point. which is a Korean Convenience Store located at Wisma 46, and other offline stores.

"This is necessary for customers can see directly the products sold on iStyle and can shop online and offline easily," Ardi added.

Was founded in 2017, this site has adopted the mall in mall concept which provides alternative solutions for shopping products from Lotte Shopping Avenue, LotteMart grocery store, Planet Sports, Kidz Station, Lejel Home Shopping, K-Mall, Kinokuniya, and Best Denki. The various brands that are partnered with, move shopping habits at malls into one application and can be accessed anytime.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian