During the COVID-19 outbreak, it is easy for people to feel a sense of despair because of uncertainty about the present and the future, especially regarding health and the economy.

That is why Indonesian superapp Gojek is striving to use technology and innovation during these trying times to provide hope and give people a sense of normalcy.

Gojek has partnered with several other businesses and platforms to help remove daily frictions from people’s lives, a motto that has been central to the company’s operations since its inception and which has become more salient than ever in the face of the changes brought about by COVID-19.“

Now is a highly challenging time for all business and industry sectors. Many things have changed during the course of this pandemic, but as Southeast Asia’s leading superapp, we have built our business strategically. We have built an ecosystem where elements such as transportation (GoRide/GoCar), digital payment (GoPay) and food delivery services (GoFood) are interlinked and support each other to ensure business sustainability,” Gojek co-chief executive officer Andre Soelistyo said.

He added that Gojek’s priority during the COVID-19 pandemic was to make sure its services remained the most reliable for the public, while being the most proactive player in helping its partners. “Gojek will lead the way to making life easier for society while striving to have a more expansive social impact during the pandemic.”

Five ways Gojek is innovating its way out of the pandemicIn response to COVID-19 and to provide a sense of hope and normalcy, Gojek has created some key innovations.

1. Safety measures first

The first initiative is to support drivers with health and safety measures during the pandemic. At the Gojek Safety Center (locally known as Posko Aman Bersama Gojek), which has been established across several cities in Indonesia, Gojek’s driver partners can access medical masks, hand sanitizer, vehicle disinfectant and can also check their body temperature.

Gojek’s health care initiative also includes raising awareness of health protocols through educational content in drivers’ in-app notifications. Gojek has made the body temperatures and vehicle hygiene statuses of its drivers available on a real-time basis through a display on its application.

Furthermore, from enhancing its safety operating procedures in various services to merchant empowerment, Gojek has demonstrated what it takes to run a business in a time of pandemic.

Gojek’s logistics services GoSend and GoBox have adopted GoFood, GoMart and GoShop’s contactless delivery measures to help people move essential goods. These drivers get their temperature checked and vehicles cleaned in Gojek’s recently launched facilities. Their statuses will be shown on the customer’s application whenever they order transportation, food or delivery services.

In addition to ensuring its driver partners’ health, Gojek has been working closely with merchant partners to enhance quality control and food safety standards through several educational campaigns and guidelines regarding the adoption of food safety seals and body temperature charts to help merchants record the body temperatures of everyone involved in the food preparation and delivery process.

During the pandemic, cashless transactions have become more important than ever to avoid COVID-19 transmission and the hassle of having to procure more cash outside the house. Gojek’s GoPay is ready to make users’ Ramadan experience wonderful by helping them make cashless transactions for health care, lifestyle, leisure, entertainment and daily needs.

The GoPay e-wallet helps you shop safely from home, but make sure you avoid top-up scams and scammers who disguise themselves as medical mask sellers during the pandemic. Always remember Gojek’s user safety protocol: do not pay anything if it’s not through the Gojek app; secure your personal data and do not share the one-time password (OTP) code; use a personal identification number; and report any suspicious actions through Gojek’s official email or the help page accessible on the Gojek app.

2. Everyday needs at home

Gojek is providing basic necessities to millions of people in the country who have been instructed to self-quarantine under large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). People can still have their basic needs met while staying safely at home.

This includes convenient grocery shopping and food preparation. You can now get ingredients and staple necessities from your local grocery store and select traditional markets operated by the ministry. GoFood’s latest innovation, Siap Masak (Ready to Cook), in partnership with Pasar Mitra Tani, also allows you to get ingredients.

To purchase staple necessities, users can click on new tiles called “get groceries and daily necessities” and shuffle cards on the GoFood feature for modern shops such as Alfamart, FamilyMart, Lawson and Circle K. For goods from traditional markets, you can go directly to GoFood, with free delivery from selected partners of Pasar Mitra Tani/TTIC, or go to GoShop for other traditional and modern markets.

Helpful to customers and merchants alike, GoFood recorded a 10 percent increase in monthly revenue at the start of May 2020. Some of merchants have even returned to their initial business performance thanks to these orders, not to mention snack sellers who have enjoyed a 30 percent increase in transactions compared to before the pandemic.

3. Relief programs for partners

An important element in Gojek’s relief programs for its driver partners is reducing their operational costs by distributing affordable meals for hundreds of thousands of drivers, which they can buy from participating GoFood micro-merchants in a program administered by the foundation. Gojek is also providing driver partners loan payment relief on their motorcycle and car credits, in cooperation with relevant government agencies and multifinance companies, and is seeking to provide more clarity on the vehicle loan repayment process for Gojek driver partners.

In addition, Gojek has partnered with BRI, Indonesia’s largest lender in terms of assets, to launch a low-interest loan program for driver partners and merchants associated with the bank. The loans, which will be disbursed to GoRide, GoCar and GoFood partners, will be between Rp 5 million and Rp 20 million. The loan tenure is up to 24 months with a three month waiver.

Gojek has distributed baskets containing staple foods to driver partners above 60 years old and has distributed staple foods to the family members of many of its 450,000 driver partners so far.

The third and final pillar is the income assistance program, where Gojek provides income assistance for driver partners diagnosed with COVID-19. Gojek has extended its income assistance program to drivers who may not have COVID-19 but who have to undergo quarantine as a precautionary measure and are therefore unable to work. The income assistance program extension is administered by Gojek’s Anak Bangsa Bisa Foundation.

Gojek continues to innovate through product features that have been added to its platform to further support drivers, including the option to increase tips for drivers. Users can now tip drivers up to Rp 100,000, which goes directly into their e-wallets. Since its launch on March 20, the feature has increased the amount of tips 240 percent across all line services through its Give More (Kasih Lebihan) program.

4. Helping the government manage the pandemic

Gojek has taken proactive measures to work with the government to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, using its expertise in technology and transport services as its main contribution.

For instance, Gojek has partnered with online healthcare platform Halodoc so that people can access the platform’s “check COVID-19” telemedicine service, available as a shuffle card on the Gojek application, to help them conduct a self-assessment and have a remote consultation online with doctors from Halodoc.

Gojek and Halodoc have also launched a COVID-19 drive-through rapid testing service with the Mitra Keluarga hospital. Halodoc doctors will schedule a time and location for users who fulfill certain criteria to take rapid tests. For patients instructed by their doctors to self-quarantine at home, Halodoc doctors will prescribe medication to be delivered by GoMed.

The Indonesian government has also used the GoSend service to deliver aid to the communities that need it most. Contactless delivery has been applied by Gojek to its GoFood, GoShop, GoMart, GoMed, GoSend and GoBox delivery services to ensure the safety of partners, consumers and merchants.

And in compliance with government regulations, Gojek has temporarily halted the operation of GoRide, its two-wheeled motorcycle taxi service, in cities where the government has enacted PSBB.

5. Helping people stay productive at home

To remain productive during the self-quarantine period, consumers can take advantage of various offers from the Gojek app, ranging from entertainment to e-learning.

Gojek provides enrichment content for professionals in cooperation with digital events platform Loket.com. The platform has curated various online events in collaboration with the best content creators in Indonesia, enabling these workers to learn about family financial management, mutual funds, taxes, internet marketing, search engine optimization and much more.

The application also helps users do good with online donations through GoGive, which provides users an easy, accessible way to donate to various Indonesian nonprofit organizations supporting the people most impacted by COVID-19, including Baznas, Lazis Muhammadiyah, NU CARE-LazisNU, Rumah Zakat, World Vision Indonesia and Indorelawan.

Through its innovations, Gojek strives to work hand-in-hand with the larger Indonesian public to help people live well and survive this pandemic.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/adv-longform/2020/05/22/how-gojeks-technology-provides-hope-and-a-sense-of-normalcy-amid-the-covid-19-outbreak.html

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