JAKARTA -- Indonesia's Salim Group is planning a major foray into e-commerce this year in partnership with South Korea's Lotte, squaring off against heavily funded rivals also seeking a slice of the Southeast Asian nation's swelling online shopping market.
Indo Lotte Makmur, a 50-50 joint venture by the two conglomerates, will launch the iLotte online shopping platform as soon as July, putting $88 million into the project initially. The service will be geared primarily toward 20- and 30-something women and feature name-brand cosmetics sold in South Korea as well as other offerings from Lotte's existing online mall platform.
