Mothercare Indonesia Launches a Fully Integrated Online Store

Kanmo Retail Group launches its online store today for Mothercare and Early Learning Centre products in Indonesia after a year's worth of preparation and two months of pre-launch public testing. With exclusive offers, express and name-your-day delivery, as well as in-store pickup, Mothercare's online store allows customers the flexibility of being able to make their purchases from anywhere with an Internet connection and have the goods delivered to their specified address. The store is available in English as well as Indonesian.

The popularity of online shopping in Indonesia in the last couple of years have pushed a number of brick and mortar retailers to adopt the practice to provide a more convenient way for their customers to purchase their products. Kanmo Retail Group has been handling remote orders by phone for a number of years for Mothercare and ELC products and saw the online store as a way to streamline its retail efforts and expand its reach beyond cities that have its stores.

Even though the group already has more than 40 Mothercare and ELC stores across the country, it had been receiving inquiries and purchase orders from customers across the country including those who seek products based on the company's overseas catalogs. The online store was built with this consideration in mind as customers will be able to search for products using various search terms including product codes.

Delivery options The online store allows the group to offer a greater range of products that it can offer within its stores with products being delivered directly from its centralized warehouse with various delivery options to choose from.

The store offers a standard delivery option which will take anywhere between 2-9 days and an option for next day delivery which applies to products ordered and paid for before 4 pm. Customers can also choose to pick a particular date to have the products delivered to the intended destination whether it's a home or office address or a Mothercare or ELC outlet for pickup.

Privilege Club Members Mothercare members can input their existing membership numbers to the website upon registering and have their purchase history displayed. As Gold and Platinum members are entitled to a 10% or 15% discounts on all items on the stores, the same also applies to the website.

Logged in customers with a Gold or Platinum membership will see the difference between the standard and discounter prices listed alongside each product. Prices on the online and offline stores are identical but the online store does have monthly promotions for products that are exclusive to the online store.

Mothercare in Indonesia has 150 thousand members in its Privilege Club and gained about 3000 members in the past two months since the website was made available. The store carries thousands of products from 100 International and local brands.

Importance of content Group managing director Hitesh Bharwani said at the launch that while there may be other online stores offering similar product categories, Mothercare's strength lies in the content, in this case referring to the number of products as well as availability.

He said that having content is crucial to the success of the store and they work to make sure that every product that's available on the website are available to buy. According to Bharwani, the product database on the website is synchronized with the warehouse database every five minutes so customers will always receive the latest information available.

The online store is also set up as a place for consumers to find out information about not only the products that are sold on the website but also about maternity and child care in general. The Service and Advice section provides tips on parenting, child safety, information on pregnancy, nursery, even fashion tips and a guide to choose car seats and strollers.

First in Southeast Asia The online store for Mothercare Indonesia is the first in Southeast Asia and Bharwani expects Mothercare to open more online stores in neighboring countries eventually. He said that while Mothercare Indonesia can only ship products within Indonesia, the store accepts orders from other countries to be delivered as gifts to their friends and relatives living in Indonesia. The store accepts International credit cards to facilitate this  service.

Bharwani also said that Mothercare is perhaps the first International retailer in Indonesia that offers fully integrated online and offline stores with a seamless experience. He recognizes that Indonesian consumers are making their way online and he wants to make sure that they will be able to conveniently purchase Mothercare and ELC products wherever they are and whenever they need to.

The store currently accepts credit cards which is processed through Doku, as well as payment via bank transfer. KlikBCA and other payment methods are being prepared and will be rolled out when they are ready.

According to the group's e-commerce manager Franka Franklin, just based on the two month pre-launch period, half of the customers of Mothercare online are based in Jabodetabek, which is Jakarta and the immediate surrounding areas, while the other half come from other cities across the country from Aceh to Papua.