“Improving the welfare of the community has been the focus for us in running our businesses. Therefore, we make sure that everything we do creates a positive impact on our society. In the Impact Report that we release today, we provide an overview of our business achievements that are aligned with the UN SDGs,” said Maha Willy Chandra, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Dagangan.
Of the 17 Goals in the SDGs, Dagangan is actively striving for some of them including efforts to reduce poverty, fight for gender equality, create decent jobs for economic growth, address inequality through innovation, and contribute to addressing climate change issues.
Willy added, “Sustainability” is the right word to describe what Dagangan has been doing so far. We strive to have a positive and sustainable impact, to our users, employees, investors and society in everything we do.
The Journey in Creating a Positive Impact for Society
Founded in 2019, Dagangan aims to be the solution for people in rural areas to be able to access basic needs in an easier, faster, and affordable manner. Dagangan implements a hub-and-spoke operational model, where the company provides a fulfillment center or micro warehouse (hub) at various points in rural areas, resulting in efficient logistics cost. This operating model also allows large producers to reach rural areas which were previously difficult to penetrate due to logistical limitations.
To date, Dagangan has reached more than 8,000 villages in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Central Java, and West Java. More than 25,000 communities, including retail buyers, warung owners, and MSME entrepreneurs, now have access to high quality products that are sold through their platform at an affordable price. Warung owners who shopped for inventory through the Dagangan application have reportedly increased their income by up to 60 percent.
“Dagangan is playing a pivotal role in bringing basic necessities to underserved rural communities. Using tech and its partnerships with local communities, the team has created a more efficient supply chain to help bring products and services to the 80% of Indonesians who are in tier 3 and 4 cities. We are excited to continue to be a partner in improving the welfare of communities and supporting a more integrated and inclusive digital economy in Indonesia,” said Aaron Nio, Senior Investment Associate, Monk’s Hill Ventures.
Dagangan is also actively working with the government to expand its opportunities for rapid development. Dedi Kuswandi, Head of Section/Coordinator of Evaluation and Reporting of the Directorate General of Domestic Trade at the Ministry of Trade explained, “The Ministry of Trade really appreciates Dagangan’s support for government programs, especially helping us in distributing cooking oil to the communities in several rural areas last month, when oil scarcity was at its peak. We hope that in the future, we can partner again with Dagangan, together we can join forces and improve people’s welfare.”
Partnerships with various parties, local community leaders, SMEs, large-scale producers, and the government, is expected to continue rapidly. Therefore, Dagangan can continue to expand its operational scope to reach more people in rural Indonesia and provide them with products and services in the future.