Grocery shopping app Jocom grows with the new normal

PETALING JAYA (May 22): The Jocom (Just Order Conveniently on Mobile) end-to-end grocery shopping app has come a long way.

Described as “arguably Malaysia’s first-ever grocery shopping mobile app” Jocom, it started out about five years ago at a time when buying one’s daily needs has not caught on in a super big way yet. But then Covid-19 came along and the shopping landscape changed significantly.

“The pandemic helped make the idea of online grocery shopping acceptable,” Joshua Sew (pictured), founder and CEO of Jocom told The Edge Singapore.

“We were lucky to start our business five years ago. That gave us time to build our brand and allowed us to be prepared for the pandemic. In 2018 to 2019 when we were at our peak, many still questioned the feasibility of online grocery … until the pandemic happened,” Sew revealed.

The weekly reported that Jocom “has evolved into one of a few end-to-end platforms for grocery shopping in Malaysia”.

Sew explained that “Jocom is one of the very few online grocery platforms in Malaysia that has full control over its entire order journey from purchase to fulfilment and has ownership over the platform, proprietary software, delivery fleet and storage facilities”.

The app actually “clinched” a spot in the Malaysia Book of Records for being the first local online grocery app to deliver within 24 hours of receiving an order.

These days, Jocom has three million users, 500 vendors and 15,000 SKUs (stock-keeping units).

Another feather in Jocom’s cap is its successful listing on 1exchange (1X), Singapore’s first regulated private securities exchange with a Recognised Market Operator licence granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Jocom is reportedly 1X’s second cross-border listing, as well as the third private securities exchange listing of its kind in Singapore.

“We are now not ready to list on a public platform, but listing on 1X gives us a good platform to ensure that we have good reporting standards and compliance. So, investors are much more confident and comfortable to come in,” Sew revealed to The Edge Singapore.

Will the new normal brought on by the pandemic continue to drive Jocom ahead?

“Everyone in Malaysia is getting used to the new norm, which includes working from home more often. I believe that Covid-19 will still be around in the next two to three years until the whole world gets vaccinated. The online grocery market is only going to get bigger with the new norm and I think there will be more new players coming up in the market,” said Sew.

Read the full report in this week’s The Edge Malaysia

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