TaniHub vs Sayurbox: The fork in Indonesia's diverging e-grocery market

TaniHub closes its retail business suddenly, while Sayurbox marches on. And this is despite the B2C scene getting crowded with newcomers competing to deliver the fastest

TaniHub announced it was shutting down its B2C operations despite having relaunched its same-day grocery delivery just two weeks prior

The B2C space has turned into a red ocean situation with newcomers promising instant deliveries within 3 hours to 15 minutes

Sayurbox, whose business model is similar to TaniHub’s, however, stays committed to the space

Suddenly, speed seems like an important currency to win the e-grocery customers. But is it all that’s needed?

At the end of February, just two weeks after Indonesian e-grocer TaniHub opened a mini-warehouse to offer same-day delivery to its customers in West Jakarta, it announced it was shutting down all business-to-consumer (B2C) operations. It said that it will focus solely on its business-to-business (B2B) unit—supplying produce to hotels, restaurants, small retailers, supermarkets, and in between.

This meant that the mini-warehouse—along with its same-day delivery service TaniInstan—was rendered obsolete even before it could start serving people.

So, why did TaniHub set up a unit if it had to fold? Moreover, what’s making it rush out of B2C?

AUTHOR

Yunindita Prasidya

Based in Indonesia, Dita is passionate about tracking the country’s growing digital economy. Her coverage is sector-agnostic—she has written about e-commerce, edtech, fintech, venture capital, and publicly-listed companies, as well as stories on careers and workplaces. She was previously a business journalist covering banking and the stock market at The Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s leading English daily.

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