International Conference on Global Optimization and Its Applications 2021 (ICoGOIA 2021),

Bogor, December 23, 2021

Benchmarking Business Model within Agriculture Marketplaces in

Indonesia through Competitor Analysis as A Way of Attracting Young
Farmers
Hazza Shafa Ramadhana1*, Muhammad Haykal Firza Himawan1, Refti Muniva Kiendra1, Tomy
Perdana2
1,2,3
Faculty of Industrial Technology, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia
2
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Padjadjaran, Sumedang, Indonesia.

*Corresponding author email: hazza.shafa@gmail.com

Abstract

With the vast development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), agriculture has become one of the fields set out
to implement them. Despite its prominence within the field, Indonesia has a deficit workforce to keep up due to the abundance of
ageing farmers. The ICT itself has been associated with the young generations taking the wheel, making it a gateway to attract them
to participate in the field. By creating an online agriculture marketplace, not only can it serve that purpose, but it can also increase
the national competitiveness, as well as the living standards of the farmers. This paper aims to develop a benchmark business model,
based on Indonesia’s established online agriculture marketplaces. A selection is conducted, based on their estimated users relative
to the year-founded Through competitors’ analysis. Marketplaces within the head-to-head quadrant are used as a benchmark to
develop the model, using the Business Model Canvas Framework. It is found that the customer segments served are mass market,
offering a lower price and a guaranteed product quality. It uses a number of direct and indirect channels to reach their customers.
The customer relationships involved are self-service and personal assistance. Key activities include platform management, service-
provisioning, and platform promotion. Doing so requires physical, intellectual, human, and financial resources. It has buyer-supplier
relationships with farmers and FMCG brands. It also aligns with a strategic alliance with digital payment platforms. Revenue
streams come from investors and other fees (promotion, service, partnerships). The cost structures include software development,
partnership, marketing, logistics, and customer-supplier service.

Keywords: Business Model, Agriculture, Marketplace, E-Commerce, Competitor Analysis

1. Introduction

The rise of the e-commerce phenomenon cannot be denied since its emergence several decades ago. The e-commerce
itself is concrete evidence of the growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), triggering disruptions
in social, economic, to political aspects of society (Bahtiar, 2019). Various fields have experienced development to a
certain extent due to this phenomenon, agriculture namely being one of the fields. In the context of agriculture, e-
commerce serves as a new medium for selling and circulating agricultural products. Having an innovative business
model, businesses engaged in the agricultural sector can not only thrive, but also contribute to national competitiveness,
regional development, and economic recovery (Vlachopoulou et al, 2021).
In China, sales of agricultural products through e-commerce platforms are reported to reach 610 billion yuan,
showing a significant increase from last year’s record at 410 billion yuan (Ma, 2021). This indicates the use of e-
commerce as a promising prospect of catalyzing business growth in the agricultural sector. Indonesia, as the largest
archipelago in the world, has a recognizable position for its agricultural sector. Out of its 190 million hectares of land,
55 million hectares are specifically allocated for agricultural cultivation (Quincieu, 2020). The contribution of the
agricultural sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDCP) reached 13.7% in 2020, indicating an increase of
0.99% from the previous year (Badan Pusat Statistik, 2021). This places the agricultural sector as the second largest
contributor to GDP in the second quarter of 2020, right below the manufacture field (Badan Pusat Statistik, 2021). This
indicates the prominence of the field, despite the nation’s economic shut down on the same year due to the COVID-19
pandemic. By involving extensive applications of ICT, Indonesia’s agricultural sector can further evolve.
Furthermore, the number of Indonesian workers in the agricultural sector reaches a whopping 38.23 million,
representing around 29.76% of the nation’s workforce as of August 2020 (Annur, 2020). This relatively large number,
however, is not matched by skill adequacies to implement ICT intensively within the field. In fact, the agricultural
sector in Indonesia is still dominated by those known as “ageing farmers” (Susilowati, 2016). On the other hand, the
involvement of young workers is concerningly low. Census further concludes that the number of young farmers has
experienced a relatively sharp decline for two decades (1993-2013). Meanwhile, the number of young workers involved
in other fields has actually increased from time to time.
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Bogor, December 23, 2021

This concern leads to a number of reasons underlying the low interest of the younger generation in the agricultural
sector. One is related to the emergence of a new subculture due to the digital era occurring (Suyanto, 2016). BPPSDMP
suspects that this causes labor migration to urban areas. The migration itself is further supported by the relatively even
distribution of infrastructure across Java, thereby encouraging the development of the industrial, trade, and service
sectors.
As an effort to overcome the demographic shift in the agricultural sector, the application of ICT through the
procurement of e-commerce is hoped to be one of . This will redefine the agricultural sector as a promising prospect
that the younger generations can be involved in. Not to mention, this also has the potential to increase national
competitiveness, as well as support regional development through the workforce’s welfare within the sector.
This paper aims to research and develop a benchmark business model for young entrepreneurs to form a start-up in
the agricultural sector. The use of the model, among others is to provide an overview to business starters towards the
initial foundation of agricultural business processes. This will further help them prepare the structure needed to start
their businesses.

2. Literature Review

The basis for developing this paper constitutes several concepts that will be explained in detail in this section. First,
start-ups in the agricultural sector are introduced, as to how they differ from start-ups in other sectors. The Competitors
Analysis Framework will then be introduced. This framework will be the basis for selecting one amongst a number of
Indonesia’s established online agricultural marketplace that will be used as a benchmark. Based on the results of the
framework, a business model can be constructed using the Business Model Canvas Framework.

2.1. Marketplace AgriTech Start-Up

Modern agricultural entrepreneurship has different business processes than the systems adopted in previous
decades, mainly due to advances in information technology, including the internet and social media. These advances
allow businesses to be more profitable, efficient, and safer. The discussion of modern entrepreneurship is often referred
to as a start-up. A start-up is a newly established company with the aim of developing a product or service and
introducing that product or service to the market. A start-up begins with an innovation to overcome a deficiency in the
quality of an existing product or to create an entirely new category of goods and services.
Innovation for business development in agriculture by utilizing information technology can use the term m-
Agriculture. m-Agriculture is part of e-Agriculture, a term for the application of information technology for
development in the agricultural sector, but m-Agriculture uses different media. M-Agriculture includes multiple agents
within an application (e.g., consumers, sellers). M-Agriculture cooperates with telecommunications service providers
to provide content services. For example, many marketplace platforms have begun to be developed for selling various
products by utilizing the internet network as a mediator. In general, the marketplace provides a platform that offers
buyers to carry out a transaction directly without any distance limitations. (Delima, 2016)

2.2. Competitor Analysis Framework

Analysis of the ‘brand’ can be divided into three; self-analysis, customer analysis, and competitor analysis (Mozota,
2003). Product analysis or self-analysis aims to find out the brand’s strengths and weaknesses internally, whereas
consumer analysis or customer analysis aims to determine the following specific target markets, as well as ways to
reach these targets (Mozota, 2003). Quoted in a book titled “Strategic and competitive analysis: Methods and techniques
for analyzing business competition”, interaction between customers and competitors which in the second part of the
book, is stated in an explanation of the use of analytical techniques, one of which is competitive analysis. Competitive
analysis is the identification of characteristics, in the research context; start-up brands, against other competitors for
comparison of successful competitive strategies (CIMA).
There are various forms of competitive analysis as a mapping tool for brand distribution analysis according to
benchmarks of consideration. One of the competitive analysis tools with a focus on two aspects of the brand’s
characteristics, are two-feature landscape charts (Fleisher, 2003). Two-feature landscape chart is a competitive analysis
model. By utilizing two aspects of brands as the axis of brand data mapping, it aims to obtain characteristics of
competition between brands according to the dividing quadrant (Fleisher, 2003). These tools are further stages of
competition identification that occurs from the distribution of scatter plot data. The competition category is divided into
solid competitive advantage, head-to-head advantage, urgent action, and null advantage. To obtain a comparison of
brands between a more specific scope of competition, there are many choices of competitive tools analysis, such as
multiple competitor feature comparison. The difference lies in the use of aspects of more than two as a brand comparison
instrument.
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2.3. Business Model Canvas Framework

The discussion of the business model in this paper revolves around the architecture of a company, as well as its
customers’ and partners’ network for creating, communicating, and delivering value to one or several segments to
generate profitable and sustainable revenue streams. To obtain this overview, the Business Model Canvas (BMC)
framework is used. The framework launched by Osterwalder and Pigneur not only serves as a tool to understand,
analyze, and design a company’s business model, but it also presents a roadmap for the company to achieve digital
transformation. There are nine building blocks in this framework that make up a company as a unified entity. The
discussion of each building block is based on the “Business Model Generation”, a module written by Osterwalder and
Pigneur themselves.
1. Customer Segments
To gain profit, A company needs to decide which customer segments to serve through the values they offer. Once
this decision is made, a business model can be carefully designed around a strong understanding of the specific
needs of those segments. Customer groups represent separate segments if (1) their needs require and justify a distinct
offer, (2) they are reached through different Distribution Channels, and (3) they require different types of
relationships. Lastly, (4) they are willing to pay for different aspects of the offer, which in return, (5) results a
substantially different profitability as well.
There are different types of customer segments. Business models focused on mass market don’t distinguish
between different customer segments, due to their broadly similar needs and problems. In contrast to mass market,
there are niche market that only serves specific customer segments. The segmented market type groups its
customers based on their needs and problems that slightly differ from one another. Even to a more extreme extent,
the diversified market type serves a two unrelated customer segments with very different needs. A company can
also adhere to a multi-sided market, where they serve two or more independent segments with different goals.

2. Value Propositions
This building block describes the products or services the company owns that create values for the customer
segments they serve. Through these very values, the company solves a customer problem or satisfies a customer
need. The term ‘value’ can be defined quantitatively, such as the price or speed of a service, as well as qualitatively,
such as the design or experience offered.
In arranging its value propositions, a company can put forward several elements. Companies can rely on the
newness of the products or services, where there has not been a similar offer before. They can also rely on
performance, where efforts are made to improve the performance of their products or services from time to time.
A company can also excel from other companies because its value prioritizes customization, to meet specific
customer needs. Other elements of value propositions that can be put forward include design, price, brand/status,
cost reduction, risk reduction, accessibility, and convenience.

3. Channels
This building block describes how a company reaches the customer segments it serves to deliver the value
propositions it has created. Distribution, communication, and sales channel comprises a company’s interface with
customers. Companies can also utilize their channels to (1) raise customers’ awareness towards the company’s
products and services, (2) encourage customers to evaluate their value propositions, as well as (3) providing post-
purchase customer support.
To be able to reach its customers, a company can take advantage of its own channels (direct), channels owned by
its partners (indirect), or a combination of the two. Direct channels generally consist of sales force, web sales, and
own stores. Meanwhile, indirect channels include stores owned by partners or wholesalers.
There are five distinct phases of channels that must be met by a company. Each channel can cover some of all these
phases.
a. Awareness – How does the company raise awareness about their products and services?
b. Evaluation – How does the company help customers evaluate their organization’s value proposition?
c. Purchase – How does the company allow their customers to purchase specific products and services?
d. Delivery – How does the company deliver a value proposition to customers?
e. After sales – How does the company provide post-purchase customer support?
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4. Customer Relationships
This building block defines the types of relationships a company establishes with specific customer segments they
serve. The relationships established may be driven by motivations such as customer acquisition, customer retention,
and sales-boosting (upselling).
There are several categories of customer relationships that a company can establish. The personal assistance type
ensures that customers can get assistance, both in the purchasing and post-purchase process. A company can also
dedicate its assistance specifically to individual customers (dedicated-personal assistance). On the other hand,
companies do not need to establish a direct relationship with customers, given that they establish a self-service type
of relationship. Companies can also facilitate their customers in the form of communities. Lastly, companies can
also encourage their customers to contribute to value creation towards the company’s products or services (co-
creation).

5. Revenue Streams
This building block represents the revenue earned by a company form the customer segments it serves. Each revenue
stream may adopt a different pricing mechanism, such as fixed prices, bargaining, auctioning, market-dependent,
volume-dependent, or yield management.
There are several ways for a company to earn revenue. The most common and conventional revenue streams are
asset sales, where companies sell ownership rights to their products to customers. If the company offers services,
it can also charge a usage fee, where the revenue depends on how many customers use the service. Similar to usage
fees, companies can also charge subscription fees, where they will be billed regularly instead for the products or
services used. Other revenue streams include lending/renting/leasing, licensing, brokerage fees, and advertising.

6. Key Resources
This building block describes the assets needed by a company to offer a value proposition to its customer segments.
The assets needed depend on the business model adopted by the company. Key resources themselves can be owned
or leased, or even obtained from cooperation with partners.
Generally, the company’s key resources can be in the form of physical resources which include buildings,
machines, vehicles, and other tangible assets. A company can also own intellectual resources, such as brands,
knowledge, patents, and databases of the customers it serves. Some companies also place human as a prominent
resource, such as the creative industry. Lastly, a company can also rely on financial resources as leverage.

7. Key Activities
Once a company owns its key resources, they can be used further by carrying out key activities. This building block
describes the important activities that a company needs to perform to operate its business model. Similar to key
resources, the activities that need to be carried out also depend on the business model adopted by the company.
Several categories of key activities include production, where the activity concerns designing and making products.
A company’s key activities can also be problem-solving, namely operations at consulting firms, hospitals, and
other services. Lastly, key activities can also be in the form of platform/network, by which a company continues
to develop and maintain a platform or network where its customers interacted. The activities carried out by the
company in this type are related to platform management, service-provisioning, and platform promotion.

8. Key Partnerships
Companies are not always able to run their business models independently. Therefore, they may also need to
establish partnerships with third parties. Partnerships are not only established as an effort to obtain resources, but
also to reduce risk while optimizing the business model implemented.
There are several types of key partnerships from a company’s business model. The most conventional type is buyer-
supplier relationships that ensures the availability of production supplies. A company can also form strategic
alliances with a number of other companies in different fields (non-competitors). There are also partnerships
involving a number of companies in the same field, otherwise known as coopetition. This is done to attain stable
product or service pricing towards one another.
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9. Cost Structures
This building block outlines all the costs needed to run the business model. All activities undertaken by a company,
be it creating and delivering values, maintaining customer relationships, or earning income will eventually cost
money. Cost structures will be easier to construct if key resources, key activities, and key partnerships have already
been defined.
Cost structures are divided into two main categories: cost-driven and value-driven. A cost-driven company focuses
on minimizing costs as much as it possibly could. On the other hand, value-driven companies do not pay as much
attention the costs of running their business as those that are cost-driven. Instead, they focus on value creation.
Generally, they are associated with premium value propositions and services with a high level of personalization,
namely luxury hotels. The costs within cost structures are generally divided into fixed costs and variables costs.
Companies can also take advantage of the concepts of economies of scale and economies of scope to run their
business models.

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Materials

Data collection was carried out in two ways, namely by conducting a literature study and making observations.
Literature studies are carried out by looking for journals or articles related to the information that will be needed to
conduct research. Then the information listed by the source will be examined for its correlation with the topic being
studied. In this study, a literature study was conducted to examine a good business model for starting a digital agriculture
start-up. Observations are made by observing several research subjects to obtain information that will help researchers
find research conclusions. In this study, observations were made on several agricultural marketplaces in Indonesia.
Qualitative data will be processed by reducing data, presenting data, and drawing conclusions from articles and or
journals that are correlated with research.
Based on the data that the researchers have collected, there are 46 agricultural marketplaces spread over internet
networks based on mobile phone applications and websites. Data in the form of marketplace applications is reviewed
through Play store as a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google, while web-based marketplace
data is obtained through internet reviews. The data obtained is the result of the selection of marketplace data with criteria
for service focus points in the agricultural sector contained in the radar of researchers' capabilities. The data consists of
start-up group name, start-up name, service founded date, status, level, estimated user, rating, reviews, and descriptions.
Starting from the cockroach level to the centaur level, the start-up level is assessed based on the valuation and data
report on the position of the Indonesian start-up level, which is partially published. Estimated users or the range of
marketplace users are obtained through user information listed on the Play store or information on the website of each
marketplace. The value obtained through the estimation does not specifically show the difference in small unit numbers
between marketplaces, one of which is caused by the dynamic situation of adding users every time. After all the data is
collected, the researcher performs data cleansing by eliminating null data due to the unavailability of adequate
information which in general does not affect the analysis results but hinders data processing.

3.2. Methods

This research focuses on the scope of agricultural business technology start-ups in the form of a marketplace or with
another equivalent, namely e-commerce. This research was conducted on several marketplaces as objects with a full
range of services for buying and selling agricultural products, both in the form of B2C (Business to Consumer) and
B2B (Business to Business).
The research was conducted using qualitative and quantitative research methods. With qualitative methods, it is
hoped that it can dissect the phenomenon under study. Qualitative research is descriptive and analyzes findings in the
field without using hypotheses. This method raises facts, circumstances, variables, and phenomena from secondary data
as they are. Quantitative methods are used to process quantitative secondary data as a strong validation tool of a
conclusion.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Competitor Analysis

Based on the data that has been obtained, the data mapping uses the estimated user parameter as the y-axis and
year-founded date as the x-axis. Mapping 46 start-ups agricultural marketplace using the Two-Feature Competitive
 International Conference on Global Optimization and Its Applications 2021 (ICoGOIA 2021),
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Landscape Chart resulted in the chart shown in Figure 1. The year-founded date that lies within the x-axis are arranged
from the earliest to the latest date (year), as shown in the graph. The map itself are divided into four quadrants. The first
quadrant (I) indicates solid competitive advantage, where the scope of competition is between competitors with more
experience by year or level of users. The second quadrant (II) indicates a head-to-head competition, where the scope
of competition is between competitors that don’t have much experience, year-wise, but have been able to exceed
expectations by achieving high level of users. The third quadrant (III) indicated urgent actions. Companies within this
quadrant requires improvement as well and as quickly as possible to enter a higher scope of competition. Lastly, the
fourth quadrant (IV), known as null-advantages, contains pioneer brands in terms of year, but has not yet been able to
achieve high level of users.

Figure 1 AgriTech Marketplace Landscape Chart

In this study, researchers are interested in marketplaces with the ability to achieve high level of users with such low
experience, year-wise. The second quadrant (head-to-head competition) consists of three marketplaces, namely
HappyFresh, SayurBox, and TaniHub. To be able to further identify the advantages, the disadvantages, and differences
of each marketplace, the researcher conducts a follow-up analysis using the Competitor Feature Comparison Card, as
shown in table 1.

Table 1 Head-to-Head Feature Comparison

Competitor Feature Comparison Card

Feature/Attribute Description HappyFresh SayurBox TaniHub
Rating Customer Satisfaction (Based on Play 4,2 4,2 4,7
Store’s Rating)
Available regions City 8 7 14
Multiple payment E-wallet, debit, credit, bank, cash, etc 8 9 20
options
UI/UX Seamless navigation on its app/website, Good Good Good
neat design. Range: (Excellent-Good-
Poor)
Vendor options Provide several options of vendors ✓ X X
On-site assistance Customers can ask for certain questions ✓ X X
to the shopper directly on app
Multiple platform Web (Windows), Play Store (Android), ✓ ✓ ✓
accessibility and App Store (iOS) availability
Deals/ promos Offer plentiful deals and discounts ✓ ✓ ✓
through merchants
Ease of joining Google shortcut option when signing up X ✓ ✓
for registration
 International Conference on Global Optimization and Its Applications 2021 (ICoGOIA 2021),
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4.2. Feature Implication

Based on the Competitor Feature Comparison Card from SayurBox, HappyFresh and TaniHub on Table 1, it is found
that the rating of the application is not necessarily a definite indication of high level of user ownership. TaniHub, having
the lowest user of the three has the highest rating instead. The correlation between the two variables needs to be
investigated further to obtain a conclusive statement. The same goes for the ‘available regions’ variable. Provision of
services in many regions does not necessarily guarantee high level of user ownership. In choosing an area, there may
be a number of factors to be considered, namely the level of infrastructure development, or the technological literacy
of the demographics residing in the area. Provision of vendor choices is also not an aspect of service that should be
prioritized. Users may only prioritize the practicality of the service. Both of these statements need to be validated further
through extensive market research.
To gain more users, it seems to be important for companies to make their platforms available on a number of
operating systems, such as Windows (PC), iOS and Android. This will help users access services provided by the
company easily. In building a marketplace platform, it is also found that the UI/UX of the platform was a major
contributing factor towards user acquisition. A good UI/UX will certainly make users easier to navigate the platform to
shop. An option to register via Google account is also a feature that needs to be considered by the company to be owned,
as it will make users easier to join the company’s marketplace platform. Providing a number of payment options can
also do the same. Even so, the number of payment options also does not necessarily guarantee high level of user
ownership. This implies that the company should not focus on diversifying payment services. Instead, they should
provide commonly-used payment services.

4.3. Business Model Canvas

Based on the consideration of the landscape chart and the competitor's head-to-head analysis carried out on data
processing, SayurBox was chosen as a suitable agricultural marketplace to be used as a reference for designing the
business models. Figure 2 visualized the business model that has been designed.

Figure 2 Business Model Canvas of SayurBox

1. Customer Segments
The customer segment served by the marketplace is mass market, in the sense that it does not serve a particular
segment specifically. Instead, it caters to a large group of customers with similar needs and problems. Be it
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SayurBox, HappyFresh, or TaniHub, the three of them also sell FMCG products (food, beverages, toiletries), in
addition to vegetables and fruits, which is the primary agricultural products. Therefore, any demographic can take
advantage of the shopping convenience provided by the marketplace. The marketplace also serves customer
segments who resides in Greater Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bali. Regional selection is based on the number of
populations. The level of infrastructure development is also a factor of consideration to accommodate the use of
websites or applications as a medium for ordering goods, as well as delivering goods.

2. Value Propositions
To achieve customer satisfaction, the e-commerce marketplace ensures the convenience of customers in obtain fresh
produce at the best price and with minimal risk. The price of the product on the marketplace is offered to customers
at a certain discount rate that can only be obtained specifically in the marketplace. Offers of high discount rates can
attract customers to transact through the marketplace and then it is expected to form a habit due to the emergence of
customer convenience in transactions. Satisfaction Customers in the marketplace can also be formed through the
level of trust in the goods received by the customer providing guarantees of fresh products that are safe to reach
customers.

3. Channels
To reach its customer segments, there are a number of channels used by the marketplace, in accordance to the five
phase of channels previously mentioned. The details are given within Table 2 below.

Table 2 Marketplace Channels

Jenis Channels
Fase
Direct Indirect
Awareness Kampanye, newsletter, targeted Google AdSense, Outdoor
social media ads advertising
Purchase Cash-on-delivery (COD) Debit, kredit, atau e-wallet
melalui kurir platform
Evaluation Rating system pada aplikasi -
After-Sales Call center, customer support -
via website atau aplikasi

In order to increase brand awareness among customers, the marketplace can hold campaigns that are in line with the
company’s vision as one of the direct channels. For example, companies can hold marathon events or food festivals
to promote a healthy lifestyle and diet. The marketplace can also provide regular offer to its customers through
newsletter sent via email registered to their accounts. Targeted social media ads, such as Instagram, YouTube, and
Twitter can also be an option for the marketplace to reach its customers. A similar concept can also be found in
Google AdSense, which the marketplace can use it as an indirect channel to advertise their products.
To facilitate customer payments, the marketplace can provide Cash-on-Delivery (COD) options via courier. OF
course, this will also have an implication for the development of COD policy that is able to provide protection for
both couriers and customers. The marketplace can also cooperate with e-wallet platforms and debit/credit card
providers as indirect channels for payments. This is done to make customer payments more practical.
For the evaluation phase, the marketplace can hold a rating system on the website/application. The rating system is
useful for obtaining feedbacks from customers towards the services provided by the marketplace. The rating system
will appear after the customer’s order has been shipped. Customers can usually rate services on a scale of one to five
(stars) and add additional notes, if there are other things that need to be addressed.
Lastly, the marketplace can also provide post-purchase customer support through the call center and customer
support via website or application. The website or app may provide a ‘Help’ option which provides Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs) on a number of scenarios that the customers may encounter post-purchase. If the FAQs isn’t able
to solve the problem, customers can reach out via call center to interact directly with a customer support personnel.

4. Customer Relationships
The business model of the marketplace establishes two types of relationships with its customers; self-service and
personal assistance. Through the marketplace platform, the company provides products that are currently in stock.
Customers can further navigate the marketplace platform to choose a product, determine the order quantity, and
 International Conference on Global Optimization and Its Applications 2021 (ICoGOIA 2021),
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order the products independently. Meanwhile, the type of personal assistance relationship relates to post-purchase
customer support that is accessible through the call center and the ‘Help’ option on the website/application. This has
also been previously discussed in the Channels section.

5. Revenue Streams
Like digital start-ups in general, the source of marketplace funds is obtained through investor investment funds and
funds other income funds, such as brand promotion costs on the platform, service fees, and partnerships. On
SayurBox, there is a payment program in the form of Sayurtunai that customers can choose from. The program is
Cash-on-Delivery feature with additional implementation fee. In addition, SayurBox also issued several lines
merchandise based on the SayurBox mascot to then be sold to loyal SayurBox buyers.

6. Key Resources
For business processes to operate, there are several basic components that must be owned by the company. These
components are components related to physical needs, intellectual needs, human needs, and financial needs. Physical
needs include basic physical requirements that can support company operations (e.g office). Intellectual needs are
non-physical basic requirements that can support business operations (e.g., internet, cloud databases). Human needs
are the basic requirements that businesses must have in the form of human resources (e.g., employees). Finally,
financial needs include liquid or non-liquid assets that must be owned by businesses to finance business operations.
These basic components are the minimum basic needs that must be owned by the company. Above the minimum
limit, of course, the company will be more superior.

7. Key Activities
The activities that must be carried out by the company so that the business can be sustainable are the provision and
control of platforms, service providers, and platform promotion. It is necessary to provide a platform or medium in
the form of a website or mobile application because the modeled business structure does take advantage of
technological advances in its application. It is intended that consumers can use and take advantage of the services
provided. It is also necessary to carry out platform control activities to minimize the risk and damage that may occur
to the digital system. Not only providing and controlling the platform, but the company must also be a service
provider for its consumers (e.g., marketplace, delivery). Being a service provider is the core of the activities that
must be carried out by the company. In addition, the company must also carry out promotions related to the services
offered by the business so that the services are known by potential consumers.

8. Key Partnerships
There are several important partners for the company to work with. Some of them are farmers, fast-moving consumer
goods (FMCG) companies, and providers of electronic payment platforms. Farmers are one of the important partners
for companies to have because basically the business model formed is to provide agricultural products. Without a
partnership relationship with farmers, there is no product that can be sold to customers through the marketplace that
has been created. Partnership relationships with fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies can also be
formed so that the marketplace can also sell several other basic needs products besides agricultural products. Finally,
partnership relationships with e-payment providers are also important to create. Consumers will make purchase
transactions through the mobile application so that payments cannot be made without the option to pay with
electronic payment services. The more options provided by the platform for making payments, the more comfortable
consumers are with the quality of service provided by the company to its consumers. Based on the study conducted,
SayurBox, HappyFresh, and TaniHub both have a partnership relationship with the 3 components mentioned above.

9. Cost Structure
The costs incurred by a marketplace focused on agriculture are roughly the same as core expenditures of e-commerce
marketplaces in general, starting from the development of software marketplaces, partnership, marketing, logistics,
to customer and supplier service. Specifically in the case of SayurBox, there is a partnership with Gojek and
Tokopedia, accessing products sold at SayurBox take advantage of platforms with more users. In addition, SayurBox
also offers excellent programs, Sayurkilat in the form of a fast delivery program a maximum of 2 hours after payment
using separate fleet. With these advantages, SayurBox still has a gap for improvement, especially in the marketing.
According to an ad search through the Facebook Ads Library, the number of ads produced by SayurBox totaling
250 active ads which means less compared to HappyFresh with 580 ads, but more than TaniHub (58 ads). Brand
awareness achieved at this level is good because based on Google Trend searches over the past year, the average
VegetableBox topic interest is the highest between the three.
 International Conference on Global Optimization and Its Applications 2021 (ICoGOIA 2021),
Bogor, December 23, 2021

Conclussion

With the rapid development of ICT implementation in various fields, the agricultural sector in Indonesia should also
take part. Procurement of e-commerce, in the form of marketplace platform can be a form of its implementation.
Reflection on a number of Indonesia’s established online agricultural marketplaces, there are a number of characteristics
that can be used as a benchmark in developing a business model. The benchmark business model is constructed based
on SayurBox, a marketplace with the most estimated users relative to the year-founded date. The customer segments
served is mass market. It relies on a lower selling price of products, as well as guaranteed quality of the products as
value propositions.
To gain customers, the marketplace can utilize a number of channels, in accordance to the five different phases of
channels, both direct and indirect. The marketplace establishes a self-service and personal assistance relationship with
its customers, enabling them to navigate the marketplace platform to shop, as well as reach out to customer service in
the case that they need help. Along with that statement, the key activities of the marketplace involve platform promotion
and management, and service-provisioning in the form of shopping and delivery of goods.
To be able to carry out the key activities, the marketplace requires resources; physical, resources, intellectual
resources, human resources, and financial resources. To obtain resources and reduce risks, the marketplace establishes
buyer-supplier relationships with farmers and FMCG brands, as well as a strategic alliance with digital payment
providers to make the shopping experience more seamless. All of these activities and partnerships have cost implications
on software marketplace development, partnerships, marketing, logistics, to customer and supplier services. The funds
are obtained from investors’ investment, as well as the revenue from brand promotion fees displayed on the platform,
service fees (delivery), and partnerships.
Using the head-to-head feature comparison, it can also be concluded that the company needed to conduct further
market research regarding the selection of areas for service-provisioning. Companies also need to establish partnerships
with digital payment providers. In building the platform, the company should prioritize the UI/UX design aspect, as
well as the options for users to register to the platform via Google account.

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