Elevenia, a joint venture marketplace between XL Axiata and SK Planet opens in Indonesia

(Updated on November 14th: Indotelko cites XL Axiata representative Dian Siswarini as saying that XL Axiata and SK Planet put in $18.3 million as initial capital for Elevenia. Both of them have 50 percent ownership.)

Marketplace businesses in Indonesia are definitely on the rise. Here’s another new one that’s popped up quietly – Elevenia.co.id. It’s a joint venture project between Indonesian telco XL Axiata and South Korean online and mobile service firm SK Planet. The former now boasts 72 million subscribers in Indonesia while the latter operates one of Korea’s biggest marketplaces, 11st.

Elevenia seeks to differentiate itself from the other marketplaces by its seller and buyer reward points. Sellers can rack up the points and then redeem it to boost sales with things like ad placements, for example, while buyers can get discounts.

From the get-go, Elevenia controls transactions via an escrow payment system. The e-store earns money from sales commission from its merchants. The company gets five percent out of each transaction for electronics and gadget products, and earns 10 percent from the other product categories.

There are two seller types at Elevenia: individuals and businesses, but the company says both groups will be treated equally. The site also has also opened registration for sellers located outside Indonesia. Elevenia merchants need to scan and upload some legal documents like their ID card and bank account books for the registration process.

Gearing up for grand launch

Right now Elevenia is still recruiting merchants ahead of its grand launch in March 2014. A representative tells us that there has been “hundreds to more than a thousand” merchants signing up to the service since November 1st.

There will be offline meet-ups in Kuningan, Tanah Abang, and Mangga Dua in Jakarta for Elevenia to educate merchants how to sell effectively on the site, like how to take good product photos. The website will start selling stuff after its March 2014 launch.

It’s do or die for online marketplaces in Indonesia. Elevenia will face Tokopedia, BukaLapak, eBay’s Blanja, and Rocket Internet’s Lamido. While monetizing schemes have been prepared by each company, merchants can still sell their products for free without any sales commission on those other four sites.

(Hat tip to DailySocial for spotting this)

(Editing by Steven Milward)