Indonesian ride-hailing giant is delivering an early Christmas present to the city-state. The company has launched a ‘beta version’ of its app in Singapore, Straits Times just said.
During the beta phase, access to the app will be granted in batches “to balance ride demand and service capabilities”, Go-Jek president Andre Soelistyo said at the launch event, according to the report. The full roll-out is planned for early next year. Priority access will be granted to DBS customers, according to a Go-Jek blogpost.
So far, it seems as if Go-Jek will use the same brand name in Singapore. In Vietnam and Thailand, the countries that came first in the Indonesian firm’s international expansion, it’s known as Go-Viet and Get, respectively.
The only noticable difference is that it doesn’t use the hyphen – in Indonesia, it’s most commonly seen as Go-Jek. This is what the app experience looks like for Singapore users who downloaded the app today:
It also looks like the app will eventually be able to be used in Indonesia and Singapore interchangeably.
The arrival of Go-Jek in Singapore, which is also the headquarter of its main rival Grab, will certainly enliven the country’s ride-hailing industry.
Since Singapore law does not allow motorcycle taxis to operate in the way Go-Jek does in Indonesia, the company will start with Go-Car and later add other services like food delivery, logistics, and so forth. Earlier this month, Go-Jek also announced a strategic partnership with Singapore’s DBS Bank for financial services, signaling its serious commitment to becoming a super-app in Southeast Asia.
At the Singapore Fintech Festival, Go-Jek’s President Andre Soelistyo said that Singapore is a challenging market to conquer, therefore they need to be very prepared before introducing the service to Singaporeans. As part of the preparation, Go-Jek revealed key member and partner of its Singapore marketing division. Archishman Ramasubramanian is appointed as VP-Head of Marketing while BLKJ is selected as the company’s creative agency. This announcement further shows that Go-Jek is ready to touch down Singapore.
A Go-Jek spokesperson didn’t respond to our request for comment.
Editor: Ben Jiang and Nadine Freischlad
