How it started
When COVID hit Bali in March 2020 it was like a tap had been turned off – more than 75% of Bali’s GDP relies on international tourism, and when our borders were closed many businesses and individuals had their income cut to zero.
FindLokal started out by supporting the parents of students who attend Dyatmika, one of Bali’s schools. Many parents are also business owners and they got together to promote each others products so that they could support each other. This was originally done via Whatsapp, but it soon became difficult to keep track of all the products & stores, and FindLokal was born.
More Communities
Since these humble beginnings more Bali businesses have joined the marketplace, and we have kept faith with our original concept by having a special community filter that allows shoppers to support their communities by selecting products from these communities:
- Dyatmika-owned – products belonging to businesses owned by Dyatmika parents.
- Bgreeners – products belonging Bgreener, the community of change-makers in tourism.
- Charities – products belonging to registered Charities.
We’d be happy to add more communities, please let me know!
Shop for Free
One last point, we do not charge shoppers but instead they contact the shop directly and arrange payment & delivery. Its also free for shoppers to create their own account, this way they can make a wishlist of their favourite products & stores.
It’s also free for shops to list themselves. In the future we may start to make a small charge to help cover the cost of the website, but for now it is free.
Happy Shopping!!