Rakuten to open marketplace in India by 2017, hires India head

Rakuten cafe. Photo credit: Dick Thomas Johnson.

Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten is all set to join in India’s cut throat online battle, and is planning to open up its online marketplace in the country by early 2017, two sources told Tech in Asia.

On Thursday, the Economic Times reported that the company had also hired its India head in Sachin Dalal, who was co-founder of ecommerce website Infibeam. Infibeam is the first ecommerce company in the country to have gone public. It listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in 2016.

One of the sources said Rakuten has started scoping out warehouse locations in northern India, and is stepping up hiring so it can compete with current market leaders Flipkart, Amazon, and Snapdeal. They did not want to be named because they are not allowed to speak to the media.

Rakuten did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The India expansion comes at a time when the Tokyo-based company has been withdrawing its ventures elsewhere in Asia. Earlier, the company said it will be shutting down its Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia marketplaces.

In 2014, the company opened a global unit called the Rakuten India Development and Operations Center (RIDOC) in Bangalore, India. A statement from the company said the center will focus on “infrastructure operations, processes, and resources,” sparking off discussions on when the company would open its store in the country.

India’s ecommerce market is likely to be worth more than US$38 billion by the end of 2016, according to industry body Assocham.

Rakuten’s entry will also mark a potential shift in the country’s heated ecommerce space, especially since China’s Alibaba is also expected to open up shop soon.