Is now the time for Amazon to attack Southeast Asia?

Photo credit: Mike Seyfang.

At a small event in a co-working space in Indonesia’s capital at the end of May, an investor dropped a casual remark: “Everyone knows Amazon is coming.”

By this, he meant to Southeast Asia – a region the mother of all ecommerce companies has so far avoided.

The speaker was Patrick Walujo, co-founder of private equity firm Northstar Group and its venture capital offshoot, NSI. Go-Jek is part of his portfolio.

Whether there’s something to Patrick’s hunch is hard to confirm. Amazon itself didn’t respond to inquiries about its Southeast Asia plans.

But the point is, it’s starting to sound like a real possibility.

Southeast Asia’s ecommerce industry has entered the next phase, and major global players are going to be a part of it. Alibaba’s buy into Lazada was likely just the start.

Ecommerce 3.0

On stage with Patrick was Martin Hartono, the scion of Indonesia’s wealthiest family. Through GDP Ventures, he invests in startups like Indonesia’s social network Kaskus and ecommerce site Blibli. The third person was David Audy, director of the MNC media group, which has launched multiple online properties of its own and also invests in startups.

(From L-R:) Patrick Walujo, Martin Hartono, and David Audy

The three tech scene insiders pointed out Alibaba wasn’t the only one with a growing interest in Southeast Asia. “JD is ramping up operations,” Patrick noted, referring to China’s other ecommerce giant.

That part was easy to confirm.

JD spokesperson Josh Gartner said the company now employs 100 people in its Jakarta office and operates a warehouse in central Jakarta, with plans to add more such facilities in major cities. Its Indonesian site added multiple product categories since its launch late last year.

“Our long term goal is to become Indonesia’s most trusted ecommerce partner,” Josh said.

Indonesia’s competitiveness