The Challenge of Finding the Right Supplier in Indonesia for Your Business

With Indonesia's tremendous resources, it is often difficult for foreign investors or businesses to find or contact Indonesian suppliers for a specific product.

In this article, we will bring out the most common barriers foreign companies face when looking for suppliers in Indonesia and explain how to overcome these obstacles.

Challenging to find Indonesian suppliers online

The first obstacle to your supplier search in Indonesia may appear when you learn how difficult it is to find Indonesian vendors online. When it comes to the Internet, the majority of Indonesian businesses are still in the early stages. Even if the company has a website, it may include irrelevant (contact) information or be difficult to find using Google.

Businesses in Indonesia do not prioritize updating their online presence or making it easier for customers to find them. If you encounter a distributor's website that appears to match your requirements, the information on it is likely to be insufficient or outdated.

Not easy to get a reply

Even if you obtain the vendor's contact information, the chances are that you will not receive a response after sending your question. Unfortunately, most Indonesian businesses are hesitant to respond to emails, especially those from unknown senders.

It's a combination of a technical issue (they don't have suitable lead management tools in place) and a lack of trust. Indonesians are often wary of anyone they don't know well and will likely conclude you're not serious. Instead of sending cold emails, we recommend calling the supplier or better setting up a face-to-face meeting.

If you are unable to travel to Indonesia on a regular basis, ZendEase can become your local representative. We can set up and handle meetings with vendors you've previously chosen, or we can search for suppliers on your behalf.

Lack of English skills

Other common challenges are communication concerns, ranging from a lack of information about the local culture to language barriers on both sides.

Foreign investors are accustomed to conducting business in English. However, most Indonesians do not speak much of it, especially outside of major cities. As a result, we strongly advise involving a local advisor when conducting business in Indonesia. This way, any grammatical ambiguities will be avoided.

A local partner like Zendease can also assist you in better understanding the local business culture by translating the unwritten rules of conducting business in Indonesia.

Poor quality standards

Another common complaint is that the products are of poor quality. Foreign investors are frequently forced to cancel orders because the products they order do not meet their quality standards.

It often happens for the first or sample shipment to meet all specifications, but for subsequent shipments to fall short in quality, consistency, or compliance. This is why ongoing supplier verification, and random batch testing before the shipment in Indonesia by a representative are crucial to maintaining long-term product standards.

In fact, from all the challenges mentioned above it is easier using a supplier search service like Zendease as a representative in Indonesia than handling it all on your own.

Using our supplier search service is a straightforward approach. All you have to do is send us about the product detail you're looking for to indonesia@zendease.com and we'll take care of the rest.

The time it takes from contacting us to closing the deal is determined by the complexity of the goods you are looking for and the ease with which the suppliers can be contacted. Typically, it takes 3-6 weeks to discover vendors who meet your requirements.