Tokopedia

William Tanuwijaya and Leontinus Alpha Edison came up with the idea for Tokopedia in 2007. While reflecting on his childhood experience, Tanuwijaya realized that access to products such as books differed between small towns and big cities, and that technology could provide better access to products. The duo launched Tokopedia two years later with starting capital from an acquaintance.[6]

Toko is Indonesian for "shop", and is the first half of the portmanteau of the company's name, concatenated with "encyclopedia".[7] The choice of this designation is to reflect their objective of becoming an all-encompassing marketplace for Indonesians.[6] Tokopedia has since expanded its business to cover the fintech, payments, logistics, and retail sectors.

Since 2017, Tokopedia's office resides in a 53-floor building called the Tokopedia Tower, located in the central business district of Jakarta.

As of 2018, it is claimed that Tokopedia's products and services are accessible in 93% of sub-districts across Indonesia, and as of 2023, Tokopedia has Reached 99% of districts in Indonesia[8]

In 2021, Tokopedia is united with Gojek and become GoTo: a “go to” ecosystem for daily life combining e-commerce, on-demand and financial services, with a mission to empower progress. One year after, GOTO has been officially become a publicly listed company on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

In March 2023, Tokopedia announced its new management structure with Melissa Siska Juminto appointed as President of E-Commerce for Tokopedia and Director/Chief Human Resources Officer for GoTo.[9] Melissa was previously the COO of Tokopedia since 2018.

In 2009, Tokopedia received seed funding from PT Indonusa Dwitama of IDR 2.5 billion. Tokopedia later attracted capital injections from venture capitalists including East Ventures (in 2010), CyberAgent Ventures (in 2011), NetPrice (in 2012), and SoftBank Ventures Korea (in 2013).

In October 2014, Tokopedia became the first technology company in Southeast Asia to receive a US$100 million investment, led by Sequoia Capital and SoftBank Internet and Media Inc (SIMI).

In April 2016, Tokopedia raised another US$147 million.[10] A year later, it received US$1.1 billion in a new round of investment, led by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.[11] In 2018, an additional US$1.1 billion was injected into the company, in a round led by existing investors Alibaba and SoftBank, raising the company's valuation to approximately US$7 billion.[12]

Tokopedia's official mascot, named "Toped".

Tokopedia provides a customer-to-customer (C2C) platform that is free to use for merchants and buyers. Brands operating on a business-to-customer (B2C) basis have the option to set up verified, official stores on the platform too. Products listed on Tokopedia vary widely across at least 25 categories, ranging from food and beverages to beauty and fashion products, and more.

Tokopedia also offers digital products such as credit, bill payments, voucher and ticket purchases, and others.

In 2018, Tokopedia launched Mitra Tokopedia to offer fintech solutions such as digital wallets (e-wallets), virtual credit cards, insurance, and more. Mitra is targeted at small business owners such as grocery stores and family-owned warungs.[13]

In 2019, Tokopedia launched Dilayani Tokopedia, a smart warehouse that provides fulfillment services, allowing sellers to stock products in high-demand areas and offering a solution to logistical challenges in Indonesia to meet people’s needs anytime and anywhere across the archipelago.

Tokopedia Salam was launched not long after—a service that supports Sharia market needs in Indonesia by providing Umrah services.[14] Users can also purchase a variety of Muslim-friendly products and services through Salam. Sharia-compliant payment methods and investment products are also available on Tokopedia's platform.[15]

As of 2023, Tokopedia, as part of the GoTo group, is now focusing its business lines into E-Commerce (Marketplace, Official Stores, Instant Commerce, Interactive Commerce, and Mitra Tokopedia), Logistic and Fulfillment, and Marketing and Advertising Technology.

Tokopedia suffered a data breach on 2 May 2020, when the personal information of 15 million users were hacked, including their gender, locations, usernames, full names, email addresses, phone numbers, and hashed passwords. The hacker, under the pseudonym ShinyHunters, put up the entire database purported to have 91 million records for sale at a price of US$5,000.[16][17][18]

Tokopedia emphasized that the crucial data of its users, such as passwords, will remain protected and encrypted, and data-related payment methods stored on the platform were not affected by the breach.[19] To further investigate the matter, the company has said that they will work closely with key government institutions, including the Ministry of Communication and Informatics and the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), as well as engage world-class, independent agencies specializing in cybersecurity to identify ways to enhance our protection of Tokopedia users.[20]

Tokopedia has been listed as a "notorious market" since 2018 by the USTR for having high volumes of counterfeit and pirated product listings.[21][22][23]

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