Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social Commerce High costs and logistical challenges are just two of the barriers that hamper small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro- entrepreneurs from fully participating in the growing e-commerce sector. However, Indonesian social commerce company, Evermos, used inclusive employment practices to successfully address these challenges, grow its network of resellers at the base of the pyramid (BOP), and swiftly expand its market access to become one of the country’s largest e-commerce companies. The Challenge Inclusive Employment Solutions E-commerce is an enormous growth opportunity in Indonesia, Along with establishing a platform that targets lower-income cities, with an estimated 50 million Indonesians becoming internet users Evermos used the following inclusive employment practices to help between 2015-2020.1 However, most consumers and sellers remain resellers participate in e-commerce: excluded from e-commerce channels due to barriers such as a lack of digital literacy, a bank account, or a registered address, inadequate communications infrastructure, and a lack of trust in the authenticity of products available online. Evermos needed to overcome these Participation barriers and build a network of self-employed micro-entrepreneurs willing to use its app or social media platforms to sell halal items Flexible work hours and no equipment or capital to their personal connections, including fashion, health, and beauty requirements beyond a cellphone. products, books, prayer equipment, food, and beverages.2 Advancement Benefits for Business Extensive training and professional development; upskilling programs for high-performing resellers Increased reseller retention and sales to become ‘community leaders’. performance. Empowerment Human Capital Performance Community meetings and online groups. Reseller network Direct channels for dialogue and feedback. more than doubled between 2022 and Access 2023. to labor In 2022, Evermos was commended for its commitment to empowering women in the Gender-lens Finance category Access Eight-fold growth in sales expected of the Transformational Business Awards from the Financial to markets from January 2021 to December 2023. Times and IFC. The company was also awarded in the transparency and reporting category of the UN Women Indonesia Women Empowerment Principles Award for 2022. Benefits for Workers Evermos offers resellers an opportunity to earn additional income, and for one-third it is their sole source of income, particularly for stay-at-home mothers. Resellers usually spend three hours per day on Evermos activities and earn $43 per month on average. Top performers can make $191 per month, which is equivalent to the national minimum wage. 1 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social Commerce Industry: Social Commerce/E-commerce conducted via social media channels. Founded: 2018 Size: The Evermos digital platform has 700,000 resellers offering products from 1,200 SMEs in Indonesia. Area of Operation: 1,800 underserved cities and towns communities in 34 Indonesian provinces. Base of the Pyramid Workforce: Reseller network comprised of micro-entrepreneurs of whom 71% are women, 85% are in lower-income communities, and 75% have no education beyond high school. 2 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social Commerce How Evermos Puts Inclusive Employment Solutions into Practice Participation: Reduce entry barriers Advancement: Upskill By enabling resellers to choose their own hours and Evermos gives high-performing resellers with location, Evermos provides households at the base of the economic leadership potential the opportunity to become ‘Community pyramid with the opportunity to make critical supplementary Leaders’. Evermos’s sales and community managers select income. Three quarters of Evermos resellers are parents, community leaders based on their drive to excel and learn including stay-at-home mothers, and this flexibility enables them new skills, and their commitment to strengthening the skills and engagement of fellow resellers. After participating in to fit their work as a reseller around their family obligations. additional training, community leaders are responsible for Resellers on Evermos’s platform do not need start-up capital hosting and facilitating ‘community gatherings’, where resellers to buy and stock their inventory or equipment other than learn from each other by sharing their knowledge and good access to a smartphone. Instead, consumers place their practices. On average, community leaders earn an additional $35 to $40 per month, which is equivalent to 45 to 60 percent orders through the reseller’s online shop, or the reseller of resellers’ average monthly commission. This is tied to key places customers’ orders for them using the Evermos app. performance indicators, including monthly sales by resellers, Evermos then ships the products directly to consumers. number of transactions, and number of new active resellers. The accessibility of the platform was vital during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many other economic activities were impacted Over the longer term, Evermos is keen to provide greater entrepreneurship opportunities for successful resellers and to by lockdowns. Low-income individuals needed to quickly find support their transition to becoming brand owners and selling alternative ways to generate income, which they could carry out their products via Evermos channels. This pathway is currently at home with no start-up costs or prior training required. being pursued by a small number of community leaders. In addition, resellers can join a company program to store Evermos stock at home and fill resellers’ orders, which strengthens their Advancement: Build capacity for self-employment skills in logistics management. Evermos provides extensive training and professional Empowerment: Support self-organization development opportunities through its ‘reseller lifecycle’ process. of informal workers In 2022, the company conducted more than 1,624 online and in- person training sessions. Basic reseller training is held in-person Creating district-level reseller communities once per month and covers topics such as using the Evermos app able to support and learn from each other is a core part of or optimizing sales through WhatsApp. Evermos’s work to integrate and empower resellers at the base of the pyramid. As most resellers work alone from home, regular Intermediate and advanced training is held in person every two community gatherings help resellers to feel part of a team and or three months and covers business strategy, creating online to share knowledge about the best use of the Evermos platform. advertising, optimizing the use of social media, and more. Those unable to attend in person can access weekly online sessions. The company also creates a sense of community through dedicated Additional weekly Zoom and YouTube training for resellers covers Facebook groups. These are managed by Evermos’s Online halal-compliant business and sales practices. Community Team and enable resellers to connect with each other, share knowledge and experiences, and ask for advice. To maximize the flexibility and benefits of its training, Evermos has developed a learning management system that can be accessed any time through its app. These modules were drawn Empowerment: Provide communication from, or developed in collaboration with, WeLearn, an online skills and grievance channels development program by UN Women. Topics covered include Evermos provides direct channels for feedback and entrepreneurship, social media and digital marketing, copywriting, dialogue with the company. Resellers can interact directly with inventory management, financial literacy, and other life skills. the Reseller Operations and Excellence Team via WhatsApp, phone, or email about issues with the app, or to ask for product information or sales advice. Evermos managers also hold one-on- one interviews every month with a selection of resellers to gather their opinions on sales or stock issues, potential improvements to Evermos’s technology, and more. 3 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social Commerce The Benefits for Business: Evermos’s Experience Providing economic opportunities for individuals in lower- Access to labor income communities is crucial for Evermos to achieve its goal of reaching underserved consumers. By creating a supportive working Providing an inclusive working environment, environment, with an emphasis on community-building and providing developing resellers’ capacity, and offering advancement training and advancement opportunities, Evermos has been able to opportunities are all critical to the company’s goal of reaching one retain its skilled resellers, and rapidly expand its reseller base, both of million resellers by 2027. More than 50 percent of new resellers are which contribute to the company’s growth and profitability. referred by existing resellers. Good working conditions contribute to a steady stream of new recruits that help meet growth targets. Human capital performance Evermos strongly believes that investing in training Access to markets and community-building has a significant impact on resellers’ productivity and retention. It boosts sales both by equipping resellers Since its founding in 2018, rapid expansion of with new skills such as digital marketing and sales, and by improving Evermos’s reseller network has driven significant sales growth. their job satisfaction. For example, the company’s sales are expected to grow eight- fold from January 2021 to December 2023. By recruiting resellers This is supported by company data showing that the sales who live in lower-income communities, Evermos is able to tap performance of resellers who attend community gatherings is 1.5 into this underserved market of less affluent, geographically- times higher than resellers who do not. disbursed consumers. These consumers are often excluded Fostering a supportive working environment also makes resellers from traditional retail and e-commerce channels by a lack of more likely to stay in the job. This enables Evermos to retain technology or know-how to make online purchases themselves. experienced resellers who have benefited from investments in Now they can make online purchases through Evermos resellers. training, thereby supporting stable growth. Evermos’s model, where resellers sell products to their personal connections, is particularly effective as it responds to consumer demand for trustworthy sources of halal-certified products.3,4,5 “We’ve scaled up training and community-building programs in the last few years because we realized they were critical for keeping resellers engaged.” Benefits for Base of the Pyramid Customers: Iqbal Muslimin, Co-founder, Evermos Evermos resellers are concentrated in underserved cities and towns that digital channels do not typically reach. Customers who lack the technology and/or know-how to make online purchases themselves can now do so through resellers. The availability of Evermos’s platform provides many consumers at the base of the pyramid with access to e-commerce for the very first time. This offers saving of up to 25 percent compared to traditional sales channels. 4 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social Commerce Endnotes & Sources In addition to the Evermos website, interviews with company managers in January 2022, and data provided in February, May, and July 2022, this case study used the following sources: 1 Das, Kaushik, Toshan Tamhane, Ben Vatterott, Phillia Wibowo, and Simon Wintels, 2018. The digital archipelago: How online commerce is driving Indonesia’s economic development. Jakarta: McKinsey & Company Indonesia. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Asia%20Pacific/ The%20digital%20archipelago%20How%20online%20commerce%20is%20driving%20 Indonesias%20economic%20development/FINAL_The-digital-archipelago-How-online- commerce-is-driving-Indonesias-economic-development.ashx 2 Halal items are produced in compliance with Islamic law. 3 Google, TEMASEK, and Bain & Company, 2021. e-Conomy SEA 2021: Roaring 20s – The SEA Digital Decade: Indonesia. https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/indonesia_e_conomy_sea_2021_report.pdf 4 Kim, Jungsuk and Cynthia Castillejos-Petalcorin n.d. Bottom of the Pyramid Innovation in Asia. Manila: Asian Development Bank. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/575671/ado2020bp-botp- innovation-asia.pdf 5 Ministry of National Development Planning, Government of Indonesia, 2019. Indonesia Islamic Economic Masterplan 2019-2024. https://knks.go.id/storage/upload/1560308022-Indonesia%20Islamic%20Economic%20 Masterplan%202019-2024.pdf IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 5 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social Commerce