Vonage, a global leader in cloud communications helping businesses accelerate their digital transformation, has been chosen by PopBox Asia Services, an automated parcel locker service provider, to enhance its last-mile delivery process in Indonesia. PopBox Asia customers include ecommerce companies such as Lazada, Zalora, Herbalife, Blibli, FMCG brands such as Coca-Cola, Indofood, and courier companies such as Pos Malaysia and Ninja Express, GDEx and many more.

“We are seeing a rise in parcel deliveries especially during this pandemic time. This has accelerated the need for PopBox Asia to better connect and communicate with our customers through fast and reliable means. The unreliable delivery rate of SMS messages in Indonesia posed a challenge for us”

Using Vonage’s Messages API – integrated directly with the WhatsApp Business solution – PopBox Asia Services communicates with customers on Indonesia’s top mobile app, notifying them of package deliveries. If the message delivery is unsuccessful via this channel, the Vonage Dispatch API will send the message through alternative channels, such as SMS. The company’s transition from SMS to WhatsApp notifications was crucial as it worked to meet the increased demand in parcel deliveries during the pandemic.

“We are seeing a rise in parcel deliveries especially during this pandemic time. This has accelerated the need for PopBox Asia to better connect and communicate with our customers through fast and reliable means. The unreliable delivery rate of SMS messages in Indonesia posed a challenge for us,” said Greta Bunawan, COO of PopBox Asia.

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“The Vonage Messages and Dispatch APIs, embedded within our system, overcomes the barrier of undelivered messages. Since migrating to WhatsApp, we have seen a message delivery success rate of over 86 percent. To-date we have served hundreds of thousands of users through WhatsApp, helping us reduce escalating SMS costs, lowering the number of contact center interactions and ultimately, improving customer service quality. With this successful implementation, we are confident of rolling out WhatsApp notifications for users in Malaysia as well.”

The Covid-19 pandemic led e-commerce businesses to emerge as essential services. E-commerce platforms in Indonesia have experienced an increase in sales volume. While most businesses have seen a decline, a survey by management consulting company Redseer showed that Indonesia’s e-commerce growth trajectory would remain positive with an expected 50 percent year-on-year growth, to reach US$35 billion this year.

According to iPrice Group, the region’s online shopping traffic grew by up to 60 percent in April and May, leading to an increase in parcel volumes in most ASEAN markets. Movement control measures during the pandemic meant that shippers were operating on shorter hours and deliveries took longer. Parcel lockers became a go-to solution, allowing faster and more flexible delivery services while minimising direct contact between personnel and customers.

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PopBox Asia is Indonesia’s first smart locker operator. The company manages an average of close to 100,000 monthly deliveries to its smart lockers, which are found in over 350 locations across Indonesia and Malaysia.

“We understand the challenges faced by businesses in our region to seamlessly communicate with their customers,” said Sunny Rao, Vonage Senior Vice President, API Global Sales. “We are proud that Vonage has been able to help PopBox Asia create a richer, more engaging customer experience through simple, reliable multi-channel messaging, while meeting the increased demand in parcel deliveries amidst the pandemic.”

With an ever-growing network of more than one million registered developers, the Vonage Communications Platform makes it easy for businesses to use APIs to disrupt their industries, and enable the type of business continuity, remote work, and remote delivery of services that is so essential in today’s environment. Through its partners, Vonage’s platform is at the center of many notable transformational projects in the APAC region, and a de facto for startups.

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