Been available in Singapore since July 2013, Paktor has officially come to Indonesia. The team behind Paktor believe that they have what it takes to connect people better, particularly after they made special modification for Indonesian market. Unlike similar services like Tinder, Badoo, Wavoo, or Yogrt, Paktor is claimed to be possessing unique approach.
It’s interesting to learn why Paktor’s CEO Joseph Phua finally decided to enter Indonesia. At first, he admitted that he and his team were reluctant to be available in the country because of its citizens’ conservative mindset.
“Prior to releasing Paktor in Indonesia, we have made it available in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and India. After a year, we perceived that people in Indonesia were more ready in adopting social media, especially dating app, thus we finally planned to enter Indonesian market,” Phua said (13/2).
He admitted that community is an essential component in Indonesia. People in the country have high tendencies to make friends with others, both online and offline. This fits Paktor’s vision, which is to connect people with others.
Further, Phua claimed that his Paktor has similar concept to Tinder. He even gave Tinder his tribute and called it as his role model. Right swipe for accepting, and left swipe for rejecting. After both users like each other, they may then continue to chat and look at the detailed information of their partner. Being enriched with a number of modifications, Paktor indeed has more features than what its competitors do.
Paktor provides new parameters, such as body height, educational background, belief, education, and culture, within its search filtration. This is based on the team’s survey towards 400 respondents in cities in Java and Bali Islands.
The app is available for iOS and Android. Unlike its competitors, Paktor is also available in desktop version, which can be accessed at web.gopaktor.com. Phua explained that the desktop version is not as complete as the mobile version, since it is designed to let users chat conveniently.
Regarding chatting with others, Paktor provides a unique feature which translates sentences automatically. If you talk to Japanese, for instance, the message that he receives will be in Japanese though you send it in other languages.
So far, Phua claimed that Paktor has yet planned to monetize, as they just launched the service on January 15, 2015. Their current focus would be developing their brand awareness and netting many more users by holding socialization to campuses and communities. They have established a representative office in Jakarta as well to accommodate their business in Indonesia.