Indonesia Courier, Express, and Parcel (CEP) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Indonesia Courier, Express, and Parcel (CEP) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Indonesia courier, express, and parcel (CEP) market is anticipated to register a CAGR of 12.77% during the forecast period.

With the world’s fourth-largest population and excellent growth potential, Indonesia is a key market in the global scenario. The Indonesian CEP market is at an infant stage with many opportunities for the industry. With rapid regional and global economic integration, local businesses are continually seeking logistics and courier services that can provide direct access to local and international markets.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, local online courier services in many regions of the country expanded at a fast pace. A number of the order shuttle businesses were flooded with orders because residents were reluctant to leave their homes. As soon as the lockdown was relaxed in 2021, many sectors started flourishing, including the government sector, which boosted the CEP market.

The courier, express, and parcel (CEP) market in Indonesia is growing rapidly in line with the country's e-commerce sector, generating significant revenues for the industry. The rise in e-commerce business in recent years has been increasing the business opportunities for shipping goods.

The explosive growth of the country’s e-commerce sector presents both opportunities and challenges for online retailers and logistics players. While the growth of e-commerce is the major driver for the CEP business, the rising demand for perishables and the growth of the country's life sciences sector may also support the growth of express delivery in the future.

The high logistics cost remains one of the challenges for the logistics sector and the CEP market. Lack of proper infrastructure makes it difficult to deliver the parcels, especially for remote areas outside Java. Additionally, Indonesia being an archipelago makes it difficult for companies to deliver packages throughout the country.

Indonesia is a potential e-commerce industry in Asia-Pacific, with a number of local and international players competing. The growth of e-commerce has opened up opportunities for many logistics companies to provide delivery services. E-commerce is rapidly growing in the country, driven by the growth of information and communication technology, the rising middle-class population, and smartphone penetration. For instance, JNE Express, one of the leading courier companies in the country, has captured the big opportunity in an e-commerce business, which accounts for almost 60-70% of its shipments. Digitization is also enabling consumers to reach the global markets, promoting cross-border e-commerce and driving the international CEP market.

E-commerce usage across Indonesia increased by 110% during the pandemic. After the initial spike, it stabilized at 70% above pre-pandemic levels in the country. From those surveyed, 93% of these users intend to continue using the services after the pandemic ends.

With Indonesia’s e-commerce market standing at USD 53.8 billion in revenue in 2021, it is currently an e-commerce hotbed in Southeast Asia. This industry is seeing lots of investment and has great potential to continue being one of the biggest e-commerce economies in Southeast Asia. Additionally, the companies are optimistic about the government’s commitment to improving infrastructure.

The growth in the manufacturing sector is expected to boost the demand for express delivery and logistics services. The express deliveries of industrial products are vital in avoiding stock shortages. The government has ambitious plans to propel the country into the top ten biggest economies in the world by 2030, with manufacturing at the heart of this goal. The main areas of production include textiles and garments, food and beverages (F&B), electronics, automotive, and chemicals, with the majority of manufacturers in this sector comprising micro, small, or medium-sized enterprises.

The Indonesian automotive industry has become an important pillar of the country’s manufacturing sector, as many of the world’s well-known car corporations have re-opened manufacturing plants or expanded production capacity. Moreover, Indonesia experienced a remarkable transition as it evolved from being a merely export-oriented car production center into a major domestic car sales market due to rising per capita GDP.

The Indonesian automotive industry is centered around Bekasi, Karawang, and Purwakarta in West Java, conveniently located near Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, where car demand is the highest. It has an area where infrastructure is relatively well-developed, including access to the port of Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, the busiest and most advanced Indonesian seaport that handles more than 50% of Indonesia’s trans-shipment cargo traffic, as well as the new Patimban seaport that is being developed in West Java.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made many manufacturing and automotive companies question their heavy reliance on China, while China’s trade war with the United States has also burdened the industries with additional tariffs. Indonesia has taken measures to take advantage of the situation, with the government establishing a special task force to attract businesses leaving China, which is expected to facilitate the growth of its logistics sector. As the lockdown was relaxed in the country, there was a surge in manufacturing activity across the country. After reaching a three-month high of 57.2 in October 2021, the Indonesia Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) reached 53.5 in December 2021. It recorded a higher PMI in 2021 than in December 2020, i.e., 51.3.

The Indonesia CEP market is slightly fragmented and is dominated by long-established players, such as JNE Express, Pos Indonesia, and DHL. Other significant players in the market include TIKI, Pandu Logistics, Pahala Express, SAP Express, etc. Technology has become important for companies to increase their efficiency and to attract customers in this era of Industrial Revolution 4.0. For example, Pos Indonesia is conducting trials with robots to chat without voice support. J&T Express is another example of a company that has expanded rapidly in the past three years. A lot of delivery companies that are online-based or employing high technology are entering the market, offering faster delivery services and presenting strong competition to conventional players. There have been few acquisitions in the CEP market; for instance, in 2021, Waresix, one of Indonesia’s largest logistics startups, acquired Trukita, a company that focuses on the first mile. Both Waresix and Trukita operate by connecting businesses to shippers and warehouses, and the acquisition will enable them to lower customer costs. In 2021, another company, WARUNG Pintar, a startup that helps Indonesia's street vendors digitize, said that it had acquired the logistics startup Bizzy Digital for USD 45 million.

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