Indonesia Expat
Business/Property Featured

Convenient Online Shopping with Aramex

Rukshan Veero, the Country Manager of Aramex
Rukshan Veero, the Country Manager of Aramex

Rukshan Veero, the Country Manager of Aramex Indonesia, shares that international online shopping is getting more convenient, especially in Indonesia.

He’s introducing an extension of simplicity with Shop and Ship, which has been derived from the company being customer-oriented and striving for excellence.

Hi Rukshan! Please introduce yourself.

Where I come from is a very interesting story. I’m Sri Lankan by birth; I was born in Sri Lanka but actually, my great-grandparents were from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I started my professional career with Aramex in Dubai, UAE in 1999. Throughout the 22 years, I grew my career with the company and served in various positions across different countries where Aramex operates. Eventually, in 2017, I moved to Jakarta as Aramex’s Country Manager, and I’m responsible for the successful development and execution of Aramex’s long-term business strategy in Indonesia.

Tell us more about Aramex.

Aramex turned 40 this year. Since its foundation in 1982 in Amman, Jordan, Aramex has grown to become a global leader in the logistics and transportation industry, recognised for its customised and innovative services for businesses and consumers. From 1997-2002, Aramex was the first Arab-based company to be listed on NASDAQ Stock Exchange in New York. Since 2005, the Company has been listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Being headquartered in the UAE, our location bridges the path between East and West, enabling our reach to more customers with the provision of effective logistics solutions worldwide.

Aramex currently has business operations in 650+ cities across more than 65 countries worldwide and employs over 17,000 professionals.

As part of its continuous efforts to enhance customer service levels and operating efficiencies while capturing greater global market share within both the B2C and B2B customer segments, Aramex announced adopting a new operating model and introduced two major business clusters:

  1. Express: It includes International Express and Domestic Express as well as offers delivery and last mile solutions serving the B2B and B2C customer base including Shop & Ship, e-commerce, FMCG, SMEs and others; and
  2. Logistics and Freight-Forwarding: It includes Air Freight, Sea Freight, Land Freight, and Integrated Logistics and Supply Chain solutions. It serves a B2B customer base across multiple verticals including industrials, healthcare and pharmaceutical, aerospace, retail and fashion, amongst others.

Please complete this sentence: With Aramex, online shoppers can…

Experience a very flexible premium service at a competitive price, without compromising on service and quality levels. Nowadays, online shoppers have the luxury to choose from a wide range of service providers who offer premium service, therefore, we position ourselves in the Indonesian market as a premium service provider, affordable for everyone. The service will enable them to buy their favourite items – from cosmetic products, bags, shoes, books, clothes, and snacks to spare parts for cars and motorcycles – from 33 countries outside Indonesia such as the US, UK, South Korea, Germany, and more, just by their phones without being concerned if the shop provides international shipping to Indonesia.

What differentiates Aramex from its competitors?

Our flexibility and the way we think. We’re very customer-oriented. We are committed to offering tailor-made solutions to our customers, and we understand that every customer is unique and has different service expectations. Our unique solution, Shop & Ship (S&S), enables everyone to easily do online shopping and ship it right to their door without worrying about whether the e-tailer has international shipping services to Indonesia.

Speaking of S&S, it has the experience and diverse services to cater to everyone’s online shopping needs. Why is that?

With S&S, everyone can do online shopping from anywhere. We make sure it’s convenient for them to use by providing physical delivery addresses in 33 countries and only charging every shipment based on the actual weight, not the volume weight. We also do customs clearance for customers and fast transit times. Customers can take advantage of big sales from e-commerce players, without worrying about international shipping.

Another advantage is that customers can purchase their cosmetics products – a maximum of 20 pieces per consignee – under the circumstance that the product is for personal use, or food products, like snacks, under 5 kilograms per consignee under the same circumstance. Customers can also fulfil their hobbies’ needs; collecting apparel, books, toys, etc. without worrying when the product will be released or available in Indonesia. Furthermore, when customers move overseas from Indonesia, S&S can transfer their accounts to their new address without any charges.

Who can use S&S? Briefly describe the user process.

Everyone living in Indonesia and has an address for their package to be delivered can access S&S. To activate this service, sign up on shopandship.com by filling in the registration form and uploading a copy of their ID – national ID, passport, driver’s license, KITAS, etc. The next stage is choosing the membership plan between the Basic membership of $1 per lifetime membership and the Flex membership of $11 per month and $119 per year. The final step is the payment that results in the account being ready for global online shopping.

On every address, there will be a unique code, e.g.: JKT0000, that will be used to identify every package consignee and their addresses in Indonesia. While purchasing or checking out the item, customers have to put the provided address with the unique code on the delivery address. Once the package arrives at the address, the item will be shipped, appearing on the customer account with the description of the package and the charges. Customers can track their packages through the convenient system while they relax and wait for their packages to be delivered.

In your opinion, how has online shopping evolved and how does Aramex fit in?

Online shopping has evolved tremendously, affected by customer demand for easy shopping solutions. Aramex now has e-commerce. Many brands provide online shops by creating their websites for their customers to access. Online shoppers demand online shopping internationally; 20 years ago, in the Middle East, these demands increased rapidly. Aramex, as the strongest and largest logistics company in the region, is a customer-oriented company and always strives for excellence, so S&S came as a solution to provide our customers’ needs.

Many foreigners working and living in the region wanted to purchase an item that was only available in their home country. We aren’t the only company providing this service thus more countries were added which results in 34 countries, including Indonesia, for our customers’ online shopping needs. Aramex is the only company providing these many addresses for customers in the world whereby S&S is available in 65 countries.

As a foreigner living in Indonesia, I faced the same situation before S&S came about. If you look at the past situation where we didn’t have many shopping platforms, especially the goods being unavailable in a certain country, we spent more time and cost instead. Therefore, many of us just gave up, including me. One day, when I was very new in Indonesia, I was homesick and missed some snacks of my childhood that were unavailable here. I had to either return to Sri Lanka or get them shipped – international shipping was hefty and custom clearance was burdensome. Don’t get me wrong, at that time, online shopping already existed but the shipment was only in Sri Lanka, not in Indonesia.

I think this issue still exists today with some e-commerce businesses or online shops not shipping to Indonesia. Meanwhile, customers expect convenience in shopping; no travelling or spending hours at stores or online just to find out “the shipping is not available in your country, region, or address” message. I believe many foreigners have experienced this, too. Aramex decided to add Indonesia to the S&S list.

S&S also supports local brands and e-commerce stores to expand their market internationally. This along with easier online shopping at affordable prices for their target markets comes in very handy. We collaborate with them through the campaign and other marketing activities to introduce their products to international online shoppers using our services. We’re looking forward to the development of S&S in Indonesia as a destination for customers and an origin for local brands and e-commerce.

What is next for Aramex?

We have a lot of exciting plans. The whole idea is to give Indonesian customers a fantastic, affordable service. We understand Indonesian culture and how Indonesian customers feel and think. Every island in Indonesia has its own twist and flavour and its own way of doing business. We want to be with them, to be a part of their success story!

How can our readers get in touch?

They can always check our websites shopandship.com and aramex.com. Call our office at +6221 2960 3333 or +6221 2937 8000. Or, simply reach out to our Product Development Executive, Debbi Shintia Sitorus, at [email protected] or +6282175689901.

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