Photo: Salsabeela.com
E-commerce is poised to grow strongly in Indonesia along side the ever-increasing number of Indonesia’s internet users. Frost & Sullivan research predicts that Indonesian web users will reach 175 million in number by 2016. Online shopping portal, Rakuten Belanja Online (RBO, meaning “Rakuten Online Shop”), the local version of the Japanese giant Rakuten, believes it can grab a bigger slice of the market in the country.
Rakuten’s user-base has grown five-fold recently, and new numbers revealed today show that it has 200,000 registered users and 300 merchants. As a result, the company’s revenue is up eight-fold in the space of one-and-a-half years.
The partnership development manager of Rakuten Indonesia, Budi Susilo, said that Indonesian e-commerce is still considered younger than countries like Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. But with the increasing number of internet users, online business prospects have a bright future. Budi also shared Rakuten’s strategy:
Indonesia is still a consumptive country, not just for gadgets. If there is a discount, everyone would buy. So for us, the discounts strategy is still a mainstay.
Today, Rakuten (JSD:4755) opens opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and major brands to sell its products on Rakuten Belanja. It offers various packages and features to attract business owners as merchants. The Japanese company has a points-based feature for its consumers to collect point rewards which can be used to shop. It also offers things like cash on delivery (for those who lack credit cards), free shipping, and pick-up points in selected Alfa Midi supermarkets. Badi stated:
We want to create an online mall, and embrace a number of business owners to sell merchandise on Rakuten.com, thus increasing the variety of goods sold so we can meet the needs of consumers.
According to Okezone, Rakuten’s consumers are made up of 55 percent men and 45 percent women. In June 2011, sales were still dominated by consumers in Jakarta, accounting for 90 percent, and just 10 percent of consumers were from outside of the capital. But that imbalance is going away. By May 2012, the proportion of consumers from Jakarta and outside the capital began to balance out at the ratio of 55 to 45.
Rakuten’s strategy sounds no different than other e-commerce sites, however. The discount strategy is quite a common one seen across the Indonesian e-commerce sector. Either the discounts have to be large – or, more sustainably, the service has to improve a lot. As for other online malls, Rakuten is up against the likes of Blibli, Tokopedia, Multiply, and many more.
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