Aiming to support local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Facebook and online marketplace Bukalapak have teamed up to launch an advertising service called BukaIklan.

This new service has attracted 200 subscribers within a month, mostly from the fashion and automotive industries.

“Currently, Bukalapak has a total of one million sellers, nine million users and 70 products. The partnership aims to optimize local MSMEs’ sales and marketing,” said Bukalapak COO Willix Halim.

BukaIklan works similarly to Facebook ads. Depending on their budget, users can subscribe to services costing between Rp 250,000 (US$18.44) and Rp 2,500,000. Before subscribing, however, users need to ensure they have adequate funds in the e-commerce’s e-wallet service BukaDompet.

The advertisements will be automatically shown in Facebook’s newsfeed, based on the budget set by BukaIklan users. Facebook users will be able to see the ad details in the product’s page. BukaIklan’s subscribers can check the promotion activity through a dashboard provided by Bukalapak.

For each subscriber in BukaIklan, Bukalapak will obtain a 10 percent management fee until December. From December onwards, the share will increase to 20 percent.

“We realize that local customers have frequently purchased products from their mobile devices. BukaIklan aims to create a new opportunity for MSMEs,” said Facebook Indonesia SMB market development head Waizly Darwin.

Bukalapak is targeting to attract 88 million Facebook users through this collaboration. In the future, if there’s a significant contribution from BukaIklan, the online store plans to expand the partnership with other advertising channels or brands.

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Disclosure: The original article is in Indonesian and syndicated in English by The Jakarta Post