Vietnam’s Mobile World Group (MWG) has opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Indonesia, under the name Era Blue Elektronic.
The launch is the collaboration between MWG and local distributor PT Erafone Artha Retailindo, a subsidiary of Erajaya Group. MWG has invested US$7.3 million and holds a 45-per-cent stake in the joint venture.
MWG opened its first Cambodian store in Phnom Penh in 2017 under the name BigPhone, which was later renamed Bluetronics. Indonesia is the group’s second overseas market in Southeast Asia. MWG announced the launch in February saying it hoped to have five stores trading in the country by the end of this year.
“The reason is that the Indonesian market is lacking a leading retailer, providing good customer service to encourage shopping needs and experiences in consumers,” Doan Van Hieu Em, CEO of Mobile World chain told local sources last year.
“We estimate that with the presence of Era Blue, the market can grow two to three times in the next five years.”
Erafone is one of Indonesia’s largest retailers of technological items, with a network of more than 1200 outlets specialising in offering telecom equipment, tablets, laptops, and other products.
MWG has been testing multiple retail concepts in its home market, including in the clothing and jewellery categories under the AvaFashion, AvaSport, and Avakids brands, as well as a cycle store AvaCycle. However, the company shut down the AvaFashion business in June after poor sales.
