Gojek to stop several lifestyle GoLife services due to grown stagnant

Gojek will phase out five out of seven lifestyle services available on GoLife

Gojek has confirmed that it will stop five out of seven services on its separate lifestyle division and app, GoLife, due to stagnant performance, according to The Jakarta Post.

The closure happens four years after that these applications were launched. The GoLife app also features various other on-demand services by Gojek, including GoAuto, GoGlam, GoDaily, GoLaundry, and GoFix.

The two remaining apps, namely GoClean and GoMassage, still maintain operations as they account for 90 per cent of the total orders in the GoLife ecosystem.

"We believe that reviewing and optimising the performance of our products and services is essential to meet the evolving needs of consumers and for future growth,” GoLife head Wesly Simatupang said in a statement to The Jakarta Post on December 17. “For this reason, there will be some changes to our GoLife services as we enter 2020.”

Wesly said the company would maintain the GoLaundry and GoDaily services by December 31, while GoFix, GoGlam, and Service Marketplace would be discontinued by mid-January.

Besides, Gojek would provide an opportunity for its partners impacted by the decision to sign up with Gojek's other services, such as GoRide, GoSend, GoPay merchant, and GoTix merchant.

In the context of the burgeoning digital economy, critics have called for more profit-and-loss-oriented business practices by technology companies around the world rather than focusing on gross merchandise value, which has been an indicator for startup valuations.

“We agree with those who say that we should stop burning money,” Gojek’s co-CEO Andre Soelistyo told a limited media briefing in October.

Vietnam is one of the key markets for the technology unicorn and has ­made substantial contributions to the fast-paced development of the firm over the past few years. After taking the country by storm with their ride-hailing apps, the likes of Grab and Go-Viet have unveiled ambitions of transforming into providers of multi-purpose super apps. As these apps offer a broad range of services such as ride-hailing and food delivery, several SMEs have a chance to join the platforms to access millions of customers.

Go-Viet, the Vietnamese subsidiary of ­Indonesia’s Go-Jek, has also jumped on the bandwagon. The company currently offers motorbike hailing (Go-Bike), food ­delivery (Go-Food), and ­consumer-to-consumer delivery (Go-Send) in Vietnam. During its beta launch in Vietnam last year, Go-Jek undercut Grab’s fares and promotions. The firm quickly gained market share, however, it is now facing a growth challenge with many complaints from drivers.