Ula, a marketplace app that uses technology to modernise distribution and credit in traditional retail, has grown 10x since launch with customers returning to buy up to three times of their original volumes.
Ula’s success is highlighted by the fact that stores purchased more in May amidst the challenges posed by COVID-19 than ever before, Ula points out.
Launched in January 2020 and headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, Ula is a multi-category wholesale e-commerce marketplace that combines the technology, tools and skills of modern retail with the lean cost structure of traditional micro-retail. Its customers are small retailers which typically have deep, personalised insights into consumer behaviour, but also face poor sourcing and suboptimal working capital.
“A typical store has an 8-10% cost advantage over modern retailers given that they are usually tax-exempt, employ their own family and operate out of their homes. Yet they aren’t competitive for8 lack of access to best sourcing and limited and expensive working capital,” said Derry Sakti, co-founder of Ula.
“For example, a grocery store might need to source inventory from up to 50 different sources (wholesalers/distributors) every week and sometimes order in bulk to get better rates, even when they don’t need such large quantities.”
Ula is currently in private beta and predominantly servicing East Java, with plans to expand further, both in geographies converted and products offered. The company offers small retailers consumer goods and staples, doorstep delivery and pay-later options. This allows small retailers to store less inventory and reduce the likelihood of going out of stock as they can order as much as they expect to sell daily. Ula also uses data science to give working capital credit to retailers.
“Seventy to 80% of the retailers in emerging markets like Indonesia are plagued by inefficiencies in supply chain, inventory and working capital management. With more and more Indonesian SMEs becoming open to adopting technology, platforms like Ula are an easy, affordable and scalable solution to help these retailers streamline their businesses.
"Ula has a highly experienced team bringing together the right mix of experience in local and global e-commerce, retail and fintech markets and we are excited to be early partners in this journey,” said Abheek Anand, MD, Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore.
“For us, the true measure of Ula’s success will be in how much we can improve our customers' lives and businesses. Our collective vision is to revolutionise SME trade using technology, helping increase their efficiency and providing them with tools to conduct their business seamlessly and more profitably,” said Riky Tenggara, co-founder of Ula.
“At SMDV, we are committed to technological betterment of Indonesia. We believe Ula’s grassroots driven approach combined with global e-commerce best practices can have a lasting positive impact on Indonesia’s retail sector,” said Roderick Purwana, Managing Partner, SMDV.
Ula’s success is highlighted by the fact that stores purchased more in May amidst the challenges posed by COVID-19 than ever before, Ula points out.
Launched in January 2020 and headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, Ula is a multi-category wholesale e-commerce marketplace that combines the technology, tools and skills of modern retail with the lean cost structure of traditional micro-retail. Its customers are small retailers which typically have deep, personalised insights into consumer behaviour, but also face poor sourcing and suboptimal working capital.
“A typical store has an 8-10% cost advantage over modern retailers given that they are usually tax-exempt, employ their own family and operate out of their homes. Yet they aren’t competitive for8 lack of access to best sourcing and limited and expensive working capital,” said Derry Sakti, co-founder of Ula.
“For example, a grocery store might need to source inventory from up to 50 different sources (wholesalers/distributors) every week and sometimes order in bulk to get better rates, even when they don’t need such large quantities.”
Ula is currently in private beta and predominantly servicing East Java, with plans to expand further, both in geographies converted and products offered. The company offers small retailers consumer goods and staples, doorstep delivery and pay-later options. This allows small retailers to store less inventory and reduce the likelihood of going out of stock as they can order as much as they expect to sell daily. Ula also uses data science to give working capital credit to retailers.
“Seventy to 80% of the retailers in emerging markets like Indonesia are plagued by inefficiencies in supply chain, inventory and working capital management. With more and more Indonesian SMEs becoming open to adopting technology, platforms like Ula are an easy, affordable and scalable solution to help these retailers streamline their businesses.
"Ula has a highly experienced team bringing together the right mix of experience in local and global e-commerce, retail and fintech markets and we are excited to be early partners in this journey,” said Abheek Anand, MD, Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore.
“For us, the true measure of Ula’s success will be in how much we can improve our customers' lives and businesses. Our collective vision is to revolutionise SME trade using technology, helping increase their efficiency and providing them with tools to conduct their business seamlessly and more profitably,” said Riky Tenggara, co-founder of Ula.
“At SMDV, we are committed to technological betterment of Indonesia. We believe Ula’s grassroots driven approach combined with global e-commerce best practices can have a lasting positive impact on Indonesia’s retail sector,” said Roderick Purwana, Managing Partner, SMDV.
