Local Beauty

Rollover Reaction carves niche in Indonesia’s growing beauty market.

- Marella Putri

The national cosmetics industry, a strategic sector, has seen its performance blossom. As announced by the Ministry of Industry the cosmetics industry grew by 20% in 2018, to a total value of $516.99 million. There are some 760 local cosmetics companies, 95% of which are small and medium enterprises. Meanwhile, the ministry has forecast that in 2019 the sector will expand by 7%. One of the growth factors is the millennial market sector in Indonesia, a demographic that makes up around 34.45% of the country’s population.

“As we see it, local cosmetics have been emerging rapidly. The number of local brands keeps increasing, releasing more innovative products that previously weren’t available from local players,” says Dinar Amanda, co-founder and marketing director of Rollover Reaction.

“And as Indonesia is a huge country, there are still many places that we have yet to tap into, despite the growing interest,” she adds.

Rollover Reaction is one of the earliest local independent cosmetics brands and was launched in 2016 by a group of longtime high-school best friends, Naya Tinanda Nabila, Dinar Amanda, Novianti Haryanto, and Sarah Novia Hartono. The idea of creating Rollover emerged in early 2014. At that time, there were only a handful of local brands, while imports were rare and expensive, severely limiting the choices for regular cosmetics customers.

“After doing some research, we found out that Indonesia, with all its resources, is capable of producing its own cosmetics. So we thought of making our own and worked with manufacturers,” Naya recalls. Like many other players in the industry, Rollover Reaction works with licensed manufacturers in producing cosmetics as joint-partners.