Opening local office, Ebay might soon catch second wind in Indonesia

Photo credit: Ryan Fanshaw

Ebay confirmed rumors it’s set to open an office in Indonesia, as CNN Indonesia reported yesterday.

The speculation arose based on a job listing the company had put up, in which it is looking for a Head of Cross Border Trade for Indonesia.

Through a partnership with state-owned telco Telkom, Ebay already operates in Indonesia . The joint venture, an ecommerce marketplace called Blanja, launched in November 2013, but hasn’t yet been able to establish itself in one league with major ecommerce competitors Lazada, Tokopedia, or Bukalapak.

See: Ebay quietly arrives in Indonesia under the name Blanja

Second wind for Blanja?

The fact Ebay is hiring key personnel and establishing a presence in Indonesia will not affect its partnership with Telkom, senior Ebay spokesperson Daniel Feiler told Tech in Asia.

According to Feiler, Ebay will continue to play an active role in Blanja’s future. “Ebay has been delighted with the progress of Blanja in partnership with Telkom. We look forward to the ongoing growth and success of Blanja,” he said.

Ebay’s new hire with expertise in cross border trade actually fits well into ambitious growth plans for Blanja revealed in December by Indonesia’s minister of state-owned enterprises. At that time the minister announced his ministry plans to establish an ecommerce platform “as big as Alibaba” and that Blanja would form its base.

It sounded like Blanja would change its concept, transforming from a local marketplace into a platform for Indonesian exporters to sell to a global audience.

Blanja CEO Aulia Marinto later clarified the minister’s statement. He told Tech in Asia that Blanja will continue to be a marketplace for domestic consumers and that the ministry of state-owned enterprises’ intention is to sell its retail products for the international market via Ebay, not Blanja.

Ebay’s opportunity

That’s in line with what Ebay says about the role of its new hire. The employee’s function will be to “support existing and grow new Indonesian retail exporters, who list their products on Ebay’s global marketplaces and sell to customers outside of Indonesia,” according to Feiler.

In essence Ebay has established solid government contacts through its cooperation with Telkom and is now reaping the benefits. It’s in the right position to be the partner site for Indonesian cross border trade, asuming international demand for Indonesian products will start to pick up.

“Regarding cross border trade […], Ebay is seeing good momentum and wants to continue to drive it forward,” said Feiler.

Overall, this development sounds like a revival for the cooperation between Ebay and Telkom, which seemed to have stalled for a while.