Jakarta Globe, Tabita Diela, May 07, 2015
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| A logo is pictured at Google’s European Engineering Center in Zurich, Switzerland on April 16, 2015. (Reuters Photo/Arnd Wiegmann) |
Jakarta.
Google Indonesia, the local arm of the global Internet giant, launched on
Thursday a free platform called “Google Bisnisku” that will allow small and
micro businesses to register and promote their works over the Internet.
The service
will let Google to recognize almost every small and medium-size enterprise in
Indonesia, offering free services to widen the businesses’ exposure to markets.
“Every kind
of business can have the online presence while building its credibility and
visibility on the eye of the customers without any charge with Google
Bisnisku,” said Mira Sumanti, Google Indonesia’s head of small and micro
business.
A recent
study by Google and Ipsos MediaCT, a
Paris-based media research firm, fund that business with complete information
on the internet can attract 29 percent more customers, Mira said.
Indonesia
is home to 56.5 million SMEs with monthly sales between Rp 100 million and Rp 4
billion ($7,700 and $308,000), data from the Cooperative and SME Ministry
showed.
A business
owner can register with the program simply by logging in to the “Business”
section on the Google.com home page. The owner must wait for around two weeks
to receive the verification code mailed.
“We need to
send it by mail to make sure of the validity and the presence of its owner is
such as the address,” Mira said.
After the
validation process has been completed, anyone who has registered can then find
the business’s name, address, operating hours and phone number at the right
side of Google.com’s page. Both customers and the business owner can leave
ratings, feedback or comments on the page.
Maulana
Cristanto, who owns Locco Gelato, a small ice cream shop in Bumi Serpong Damai
City at Tangerang District, is enthusiastic of the new Google facilities. “I’ve
been wanting to have my shop on the right side of Google’s search page, just
like those big companies do.”
“I hope it
will increase awareness about my shop because they can see my shop address
right on the first page,” Maulana said.
Right now,
search results for “Locco Gelato” only show lists of some blogs, its website
and Twitter account.
Google also
offers business owner the ability to view simple statistics that might help the
business, such as how many people search for their business, how often they
look for it, and when is the busiest time at the store.
“We want to
introduce hundreds of Indonesia’s local business with the importance of being
online,” said Jason Tedjasukmana, Google Indonesia’s head of communications at
the press conference on Thursday.
“Small
businesses help the economy. We’ve seen how Indonesian economic growth was very
slow in the first quarter — 4.71 percent, the weakest since the 4.12 percent
pace in the third quarter of 2009. With those small businesses thriving, we
might have a chance to grow,” he said.
GlobeAsia
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