Revolutionizing E-commerce:

How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship
Opportunities and Expanding Market
Access through Social CommerceHigh costs and logistical challenges are just two of the barriers
that hamper small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and microentrepreneurs from fully participating in the growing e-commerce
sector. However, Indonesian social commerce company, Evermos,
used inclusive employment practices to successfully address thesechallenges, grow its network of resellers at the base of the pyramid(BOP), and swiftly expand its market access to become one of thecountry’s largest e-commerce companies.

The Challenge

Inclusive Employment Solutions

E-commerce is an enormous growth opportunity in Indonesia,
with an estimated 50 million Indonesians becoming internet users
between 2015-2020.1 However, most consumers and sellers remain
excluded from e-commerce channels due to barriers such as a lackof digital literacy, a bank account, or a registered address, inadequate
communications infrastructure, and a lack of trust in the authenticity
of products available online. Evermos needed to overcome thesebarriers and build a network of self-employed micro-entrepreneurswilling to use its app or social media platforms to sell halal items
to their personal connections, including fashion, health, and beauty
products, books, prayer equipment, food, and beverages.2

Along with establishing a platform that targets lower-income cities,
Evermos used the following inclusive employment practices to help
resellers participate in e-commerce:

Participation
Flexible work hours and no equipment or capitalrequirements beyond a cellphone.

Advancement

Benefits for Business
Increased reseller retention and sales
performance.

Extensive training and professional development;
upskilling programs for high-performing resellers
to become ‘community leaders’.
Empowerment

Human Capital
Performance

Accessto labor

Reseller network
more than doubled
between 2022 and2023.

Community meetings and online groups.
Direct channels for dialogue and feedback.

In 2022, Evermos was commended for its commitment toempowering women in the Gender-lens Finance category
Accessto marketsof the Transformational Business Awards from the Financial

Eight-fold growth in sales expectedfrom January 2021 to December 2023.

Times and IFC. The company was also awarded in thetransparency and reporting category of the UN WomenIndonesia Women Empowerment Principles Award for 2022.

Benefits for Workers
Evermos offers resellers an opportunity to earn additional income,and for one-third it is their sole source of income, particularly forstay-at-home mothers. Resellers usually spend three hours per
day on Evermos activities and earn $43 per month on average. Top
performers can make $191 per month, which is equivalent to thenational minimum wage.

1 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social CommerceIndustry: Social Commerce/E-commerce
conducted via social media channels.
Founded: 2018
Size: The Evermos digital platform has 700,000
resellers offering products from 1,200 SMEs inIndonesia.
Area of Operation: 1,800 underserved cities andtowns communities in 34 Indonesian provinces.
Base of the Pyramid Workforce: Reseller
network comprised of micro-entrepreneurs ofwhom 71% are women, 85% are in lower-income
communities, and 75% have no education beyond
high school.

2 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social CommerceHow Evermos Puts Inclusive
Employment Solutions into Practice
Advancement: Upskill

Participation: Reduce entry barriers
By enabling resellers to choose their own hours andlocation, Evermos provides households at the base of the economic
pyramid with the opportunity to make critical supplementary
income. Three quarters of Evermos resellers are parents,
including stay-at-home mothers, and this flexibility enables themto fit their work as a reseller around their family obligations.
Resellers on Evermos’s platform do not need start-up capitalto buy and stock their inventory or equipment other thanaccess to a smartphone. Instead, consumers place theirorders through the reseller’s online shop, or the reseller
places customers’ orders for them using the Evermos app.
Evermos then ships the products directly to consumers.
The accessibility of the platform was vital during the COVID-19
pandemic, when many other economic activities were impacted
by lockdowns. Low-income individuals needed to quickly findalternative ways to generate income, which they could carry out
at home with no start-up costs or prior training required.

Advancement: Build capacity for self-employment
Evermos provides extensive training and professional
development opportunities through its ‘reseller lifecycle’ process.
In 2022, the company conducted more than 1,624 online and inperson training sessions. Basic reseller training is held in-person
once per month and covers topics such as using the Evermos app
or optimizing sales through WhatsApp.
Intermediate and advanced training is held in person every twoor three months and covers business strategy, creating online
advertising, optimizing the use of social media, and more. Those
unable to attend in person can access weekly online sessions.
Additional weekly Zoom and YouTube training for resellers covers
halal-compliant business and sales practices.
To maximize the flexibility and benefits of its training, Evermos
has developed a learning management system that can beaccessed any time through its app. These modules were drawn
from, or developed in collaboration with, WeLearn, an online skills
development program by UN Women. Topics covered include
entrepreneurship, social media and digital marketing, copywriting,inventory management, financial literacy, and other life skills.

Evermos gives high-performing resellers withleadership potential the opportunity to become ‘Community
Leaders’. Evermos’s sales and community managers selectcommunity leaders based on their drive to excel and learn
new skills, and their commitment to strengthening the skills
and engagement of fellow resellers. After participating in
additional training, community leaders are responsible for
hosting and facilitating ‘community gatherings’, where resellers
learn from each other by sharing their knowledge and goodpractices. On average, community leaders earn an additional$35 to $40 per month, which is equivalent to 45 to 60 percent
of resellers’ average monthly commission. This is tied to key
performance indicators, including monthly sales by resellers,
number of transactions, and number of new active resellers.
Over the longer term, Evermos is keen to provide greater
entrepreneurship opportunities for successful resellers and tosupport their transition to becoming brand owners and selling
their products via Evermos channels. This pathway is currently
being pursued by a small number of community leaders. In
addition, resellers can join a company program to store Evermos
stock at home and fill resellers’ orders, which strengthens theirskills in logistics management.

Empowerment: Support self-organizationof informal workers
Creating
district-level
resellercommunities
able to support and learn from each other is a core part ofEvermos’s work to integrate and empower resellers at the baseof the pyramid. As most resellers work alone from home, regularcommunity gatherings help resellers to feel part of a team andto share knowledge about the best use of the Evermos platform.
The company also creates a sense of community through dedicatedFacebook groups. These are managed by Evermos’s Online
Community Team and enable resellers to connect with each other,share knowledge and experiences, and ask for advice.

Empowerment: Provide communicationand grievance channels
Evermos provides direct channels for feedback anddialogue with the company. Resellers can interact directly with
the Reseller Operations and Excellence Team via WhatsApp,
phone, or email about issues with the app, or to ask for productinformation or sales advice. Evermos managers also hold one-onone interviews every month with a selection of resellers to gather
their opinions on sales or stock issues, potential improvements toEvermos’s technology, and more.

3 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social Commerce

The Benefits for Business:
Evermos’s Experience
Providing economic opportunities for individuals in lowerincome communities is crucial for Evermos to achieve its goal ofreaching underserved consumers. By creating a supportive working
environment, with an emphasis on community-building and providing
training and advancement opportunities, Evermos has been able toretain its skilled resellers, and rapidly expand its reseller base, both ofwhich contribute to the company’s growth and profitability.

Access to labor

developing

Providinganresellers’capacity,inclusive
andworking

environment,offeringadvancement

opportunities are all critical to the company’s goal of reaching one
million resellers by 2027. More than 50 percent of new resellers arereferred by existing resellers. Good working conditions contributeto a steady stream of new recruits that help meet growth targets.

Human capital performance
Evermos strongly believes that investing in training
and community-building has a significant impact on resellers’
productivity and retention. It boosts sales both by equipping resellers
with new skills such as digital marketing and sales, and by improving
their job satisfaction.
This is supported by company data showing that the sales
performance of resellers who attend community gatherings is 1.5
times higher than resellers who do not.
Fostering a supportive working environment also makes resellers
more likely to stay in the job. This enables Evermos to retain
experienced resellers who have benefited from investments intraining, thereby supporting stable growth.

Access to markets
Since its founding in 2018, rapid expansion ofEvermos’s reseller network has driven significant sales growth.
For example, the company’s sales are expected to grow eightfold from January 2021 to December 2023. By recruiting resellers
who live in lower-income communities, Evermos is able to tap
into this underserved market of less affluent, geographicallydisbursed consumers. These consumers are often excluded
from traditional retail and e-commerce channels by a lack oftechnology or know-how to make online purchases themselves.
Now they can make online purchases through Evermos resellers.
Evermos’s model, where resellers sell products to their personalconnections, is particularly effective as it responds to consumer“We’ve scaled up training and community-building
programs in the last few years because we realized
they were critical for keeping resellers engaged.”demand for trustworthy sources of halal-certified products.3,4,5

Iqbal Muslimin, Co-founder, Evermos

Evermos resellers are concentrated in underserved cities andBenefits for Base of the Pyramid Customers:

towns that digital channels do not typically reach. Customers
who lack the technology and/or know-how to make online
purchases themselves can now do so through resellers. The
availability of Evermos’s platform provides many consumers
at the base of the pyramid with access to e-commerce forthe very first time. This offers saving of up to 25 percent
compared to traditional sales channels.

4 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social CommerceEndnotes & Sources
In addition to the Evermos website, interviews with company managers in January 2022, anddata provided in February, May, and July 2022, this case study used the following sources:Das, Kaushik, Toshan Tamhane, Ben Vatterott, Phillia Wibowo, and Simon Wintels, 2018.
The digital archipelago: How online commerce is driving Indonesia’s economic development.
Jakarta: McKinsey & Company Indonesia.
https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Asia%20Pacific/
The%20digital%20archipelago%20How%20online%20commerce%20is%20driving%20
Indonesias%20economic%20development/FINAL_The-digital-archipelago-How-onlinecommerce-is-driving-Indonesias-economic-development.ashx

1

2

Halal items are produced in compliance with Islamic law.

3Google, TEMASEK, and Bain & Company, 2021. e-Conomy SEA 2021: Roaring 20s – The SEADigital Decade: Indonesia.
https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/indonesia_e_conomy_sea_2021_report.pdf

Kim, Jungsuk and Cynthia Castillejos-Petalcorin n.d. Bottom of the Pyramid Innovation inAsia. Manila: Asian Development Bank.
https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/575671/ado2020bp-botpinnovation-asia.pdf
4Ministry of National Development Planning, Government of Indonesia, 2019. Indonesia
Islamic Economic Masterplan 2019-2024.
https://knks.go.id/storage/upload/1560308022-Indonesia%20Islamic%20Economic%20
Masterplan%202019-2024.pdf
5IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

5 Revolutionizing E-commerce: How Evermos is Creating Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Expanding Market Access through Social Commerce