Rakuten affiliates mission is part of the companys growth strategy in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, beritasatu.com reports. Global ecommerce players such as Rakuten are eying Indonesia as a potential market, largely due to the rapid growth the country’s young and affluent middle class.
The online shopping platform has officiated Southeast Asia’s first Rakuten University program, consisting of a series of courses the company offers to its merchants. The Rakuten University program, which was first started in Japan by the company’s chief executive Hiroshi Mikitani back in 2000, is intended to help merchants who are listed with Rakuten to increase their sales through courses ranging from search engine optimisation to photography. The courses are also expected to attract more merchants to use Rakuten’s services, Hashimoto said, although he declined to mention any specific targets. Rakuten Belanja Online currently has around 1,000 merchants across the nation.
Technology research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has estimated that the value of ecommerce transactions in the archipelago could total USD 3 billion in 2015, in line with increasing smartphone use in the country. Hashimoto said the Rakuten University could improve the service level of Rakuten Belanja Online. The first day of courses, which was due to be attended by 30 merchants, began at the company’s Jakarta headquarters on 23 February 2015.
China’s ecommerce marketplace Alibaba is reportedly making plans to expand into Indonesia in the near future.
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