Bukalapak Officially Ends Sales of Physical Products

Bukalapak, one of Indonesia's largest e-commerce platforms, announced its decision to cease marketplace services for physical products starting Tuesday, January 7, 2025. With this change, Bukalapak will no longer offer items such as clothing, electronics, or cosmetics. Instead, the company will shift its focus to selling virtual products, including vouchers, phone credit, and electricity tokens. This strategic move comes after 15 years of operation. During this period, Bukalapak achieved numerous milestones, including becoming a unicorn startup in 2018 and ranking as the third most-visited marketplace in Indonesia in 2021. However, Bukalapak’s journey has been far from smooth.

Founded in 2010 by Ahmad Zacky, Fajrin Rasyid, and Nugroho Herucahyono, Bukalapak was initially designed as a platform for merchants to sell their goods online. However, in its early years, the platform faced significant challenges. According to Antara News, Bukalapak barely had any visitors when it first launched, as many Indonesians at the time were not yet familiar with the concept of an online marketplace. Additionally, only a small percentage of businesses were willing to sell on Bukalapak. Kr Asia reported that just one out of five businesses agreed to join the platform.

In 2011, Bukalapak faced a critical financial crisis just a year after its founding. Although it gained popularity among fixie bike enthusiasts and recorded 8.7 million page views per month, its advertising revenue remained minimal, at just IDR 6 million to IDR 10 million. To overcome this crisis, Bukalapak secured an investment of IDR 2 billion from Takeshi Ebihara, a Japanese venture capitalist.

Over time, Bukalapak experienced significant growth. By 2013, daily transactions reached IDR 500 million. In 2018, Bukalapak officially became Indonesia's fourth unicorn, achieving a valuation of USD 1 billion with support from several major investors. At the time, Bukalapak boasted 35 million monthly active users and 2.2 million sellers. By 2019, its valuation had grown to over USD 2.5 billion thanks to additional investments.

In 2021, during the pandemic, Bukalapak recorded 13.58 million monthly visits, making it the third most popular marketplace in Indonesia. However, by 2024, Bukalapak began phasing out some business lines, including its marketplace for physical products.

In its official statement, Bukalapak explained that this transformation aims to enhance its focus on virtual products. Users will still be able to place orders for physical products until February 9, 2025, at 11:59 PM WIB, while the feature to add new products will be disabled starting February 1, 2025. Any orders not processed by March 2, 2025, will be automatically canceled, and refunds will be issued to buyers via BukaDompet.