GROWTH POTENTIAL

JD.ID’s gross merchandise volume grew more than nine-fold last year, according to Mr. Li, who didn’t provide a base figure. “From December until the end of this year, we’ll be looking at four to five times growth.”

JD is also said to be in talks to make a major investment in PT Tokopedia, a major online marketplace. The company won’t comment, but Mr. Li said he remains open to growing through local acquisitions.

The JD Web store already delivers to all of Java and will include the island of Sumatra by the end of the year, supplying the majority of Indonesia’s population. Within 12 months, JD will build warehouses across every key city. It says the cost will be lower than many expect thanks to cheap labor.

To figure out where to expand, JD teamed up with Tower Bersama Group director Winato Kartono. A former Citigroup banker, he uses cell-tower construction data to predict which cities will soon see better mobile coverage. Smartphones have been the catalyst for explosive growth for China’s internet companies and the same trend is taking off across Indonesia; eMarketer predicts smartphone usage will hit 92 million by 2019.

Mr. Kartono’s real-estate experience has also helped JD secure better property deals; the Jakarta headquarters were rented at a steal when he learned the existing tenant had to leave its furniture behind. Mr. Kartono’s field offices also double as package-drop points to save costs on last-mile deliveries, with roughly 100 now spread across the country.

“Indonesia makes a lot of sense because of its size,” Mr. Li said. “Yes, there’s a big problem with the infrastructure here. So what’s the solution? You build it.” Bloomberg