China’s ecommerce giant JD sets up shop in Indonesia

Earlier this month Tech in Asia noticed that China’s publicly-traded ecommerce giant JD, Alibaba’s closest rival, had set up a subdomain for its site in Indonesia, with a banner indicating things were still in the works. At some point in the past few days, JD opened its Indonesia store in stealth mode. It has also launched a localized Android app.

Currently, the site features electronics only, including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, cameras, audio equipment, gaming products, and more. It has not yet opened up a full spectrum of goods, which in China includes everything under the sun from footwear, bags, and watches to home decorations, automotive items, and fresh groceries.

The JD Indonesia site comes after JD’s global site in English and an online store for Russia. At this point, it’s still unclear whether JD will import goods straight from China or if it intends to set up a warehouse somewhere in Indonesia.

Indonesia’s ecommerce landscape is becoming increasingly vibrant, with new players emerging and others closing their doors. MAPeMall has also been live in stealth mode for a short time after Mitra Adiperkasa, Indonesia’s largest retailer, announced it was going into ecommerce last June. Yesterday, we reported Jakarta-based fashion estore Paraplou shut down, as did women’s mobile commerce startup Kleora.

See: Everything an outsider needs to know about Indonesian ecommerceJD Indonesia carries consumer electronics brands like Samsung, Nikon, Apple, Asus, Sony, and more. If JD Indonesia decides to roll out more product categories, it will inevitably go head-to-head with the large local ecommerce players like Lazada Indonesia, MatahariMall, and Bhinneka, all of whom are already competing vigorously against one another.

To date, JD has disclosed US$2.6 billion in funding. Some of its investors include Tiger Fund, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and Tencent. In Indonesia, Sequoia Capital invests in Go-Jek and Tokopedia. However, as Tokopedia is still a consumer-to-consumer marketplace, JD’s entrance to Indonesia may not pose any sort of conflict for the VC firm just yet. JD raised US$1.78 billion when it made an IPO on the NASDAQ in May 2014.

Tech in Asia has reached out to Josh Gartner, JD’s senior director of international communications for comment. We will continue to update coverage on JD in Indonesia as more information and details come to light. Needless to say, with the firm’s entrance into Jakarta, the local ecommerce landscape is set to get even more interesting over the next 12 months.

Update 8/27/15: Josh Gartner from JD responded with the following statement: “JD.com continuously explores possibilities for ecommerce in high-potential developing markets. We recently launched a beta ecommerce site in Indonesia and will continue to evaluate strategic opportunities on a case by case basis.” He declined to answer whether JD will import goods from China or operate its own warehouse in Indonesia.

Can Indonesia’s local ecommerce firms compete with JD’s bottomless coffers? How will the Chinese firm change the game for Indonesia’s ecommerce industry?