November 09, 2022: -On Tuesday, shares of Indonesian e-commerce company Blibli increased 4.9% in its stock demand debut, the country’s second-largest initial public offering this year.

Shares of PT Global Digital Niaga Tbk, owning Blibli, climbed as high as 472 rupiahs in early trading, up from its IPO price of 450 rupiahs per share. The company increased by 7.99 trillion rupiahs ($509.2 million).

The stock was trading at about 452 rupiahs in the early afternoon trade.

Blibli is the recent tech company to list Southeast Asia from Indonesian unicorns Bukalapak’s $1.5 billion share sale in August 2021 and $1.1 billion IPO in April. 

Blibli, an online marketplace that sells a range of household and lifestyle goods, was established in 2011 and is owned by the Indonesian e-commerce areas PT Global Digital Niaga, running an online travel business and supermarket chains.

The company is backed by Djarum Group, one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates, producing Indonesian kretek cigarettes.

The listing comes amid global macroeconomic headwinds like inflation, increasing interest rates, a looming break, and volatility in the tech sector.

Bukalapak trades about 66% below its offer price, and GoTo sells around 42% below its IPO price.

Other Southeast Asian e-commerce firms, such as Sea Limited’s share price, are coming down from $340 a year to $48 today as the company faces operational uncertainty and billions of losses. Grab, listed in December 2021, decreased from its opening share price of $13.06, dropping to $2.94 today.

Simultaneously, GoTo, Grab, and Sea Limited have grocery shop verticals, suggesting Blibli could be part of a more significant macro trend of grocery delivery companies listing.

Online grocery shopping was at the height of Covid-19 in 2020 and was one of the speed-growing segments last year, according to a search by Facebook and Bain.