Golden Opportunity

Ivan Lingga expands his family jewelry business with Whizliz.

- Ardian Wibisono

The COVID-19 pandemic has added more uncertainty to the global economic condition. Gold, which is seen as a safe haven instrument, has been rallying up in price and breaking new records. In Indonesia, the appetite for precious metal remains high, although buyers now shifted their buying habits, from purchasing through the traditional mom-and-pop stores to online outlets. With the changing trend, Ivan Lingga (31) certainly made the right decision when he decided to extend his family’s jewelry business to online commerce four years ago. He saw a growing opportunity from the millennials and younger generation who are more digital-savvy as a potential market to be captured through his eCommerce jewelry company Whizliz (PT Lino Walden Teknologi).

“Shopping behavior has been shifting, and the pandemic acts as a catalyst. We are quite surprised that our month-to-month sales have been growing double. Even at this year’s Eid, people were still buying jewelry. But offline sales are slowly fading as people moved to online, which they feel more secure and practical,” Ivan, Cofounder and CEO of Whizliz, says.