Warung Pintar Introduces Application for Wholesalers, Entering the Supply Chain Business

The new retail startup Warung Pintar recently launched its latest innovation. Named "Grosir Pintar", the application seeks to provide wholesale entrepreneurs access to inventory management and reach a wider market.

Simply put, wholesale owners can immediately offer their merchandise to shop owners which registered with the Warung Pintar application. This new feature is also equipped with logistics services to support the delivery of goods.

"Warung Pintar directly cooperates with wholesale entrepreneurs who stand alone in each region. We do this to maintain the quality of goods and services to keep them optimal and encourage empowerment in the entire shop ecosystem," Warung Pintar's Co-Founder & COO Harya Putra said.

He further explained that shop owners have access to a wider variety of goods, including local specialty products, at competitive prices; and can receive orders within hours through the same-day delivery service.

"Delivery of goods, both for wholesalers and shop owners, is performed by the logistics system owned by Warung Pintar. Embracing local residents to join as couriers, is one of our efforts to revive the economy in the region as a whole by providing equal benefits," Harya added.

The business model applied by Grosir Pintar is commission based. Although he did not explain the details, Harya explained that the calculations were in accordance with the agreement with the wholesalers and adjusted to the established standards.

"Starting from direct findings from wholesalers in the field, in the midst of this pandemic, there are physical limitations that lead to difficulties in reaching shop customers, the fulfillment of goods, and increased logistics costs. That's why we embraced more than 60 of the best wholesalers in 14 cities," Harya said.

Starting in Surabaya, until now, Grosir Pintar can be accessed in Jakarta, Bandung, Depok, Kediri, Mojokerto, Jember, and several other cities in Java.

Warung supply chain

Digital players are increasingly working on the supply chain business for warungs. With a unique approach, currently, there are several startups playing in this area. First, with the capital financing approach (invoice financing), startups like AwanTunai make it easier for shop owners to fill their merchandise shelves through productive credit. Connecting micro and small entrepreneurs with distribution partners who provide a variety of needs - including wholesalers.

Through the GoToko application, Decacorn Gojek also tries to offer the same service for stall or grocery store owners to fulfill sales goods and products. They also take advantage of various services in their ecosystem, such as logistics with GoSend, payments via GoPay, and business management through GoBiz.

It's not the last, Chilibeli, previously known as social commerce, is targeting the C2C segment, in the middle of last year, introduced Chilimart. With a B2B concept, they target micro-entrepreneurs as their target market. In addition, previously there was also the Ula application, which was designed as a marketplace for the fulfillment of merchandise in a warung. Ula is also integrated with AwanTunai's financing services.

Based on BPS data, 63 million micro-entrepreneurs are mostly engaged in retail or trade. The potential for a large economic unit gives digital players a special spirit to work on this market.

– Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian