Electronic retailer Mobile World grows revenues in Indonesia

With five stores, it reported monthly revenues of VND25 billion ($1.05 million) in the first half of this year.

The VND5 billion ($0.2 million) per store represents higher sales than in Vietnam, Doan Van Hieu Em, CEO of two of the country’s leading electronics retailers, The Gioi Di Dong and Dien May Xanh, said. The latter also sells home appliances.

While the amount is only equivalent to 0.5% of that of a Dien May Xanh store, it is enough to achieve positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization), he noted.

Erablue is a joint venture between The Gioi Di Dong and Erafone Artha Retailindo, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s largest technology product retailer.

It opened its first store in Jarkata late last year before expanding to Tangerang, an area considered a new economic driver.

Erablue, which opened its sixth store this month, targets 25 more by the end of this year, halving the plan it made at the beginning of the year.

Em said it is very hard to find showroom-sized properties in Indonesia, and the joint venture has to rent five to seven adjacent buildings and turn them into a big enough place for an Erablue store.

But the potential of Indonesia's electronics market is double or even triple that of Vietnam, he added.

The Vietnamese electronics retailer has determined that sales and after-sales services, especially delivery and installation, will be a strong point of Erablue stores.