Earlier this month Californian brand Vans launched an online retail store in Russia to make its collections — including “California,” “Classic,” “LXVI,” “OTW,” “Surf” and “Pro Skate” — more readily available to local consumers. Also displayed on Vans.ru are items co-branded with Disney, Eley Kishimoto and Antihero.
So far Vans had 17 offline stores and outlets in Russia. “But we have covered just four cities, which is little for a country with such a large population. The online sales channel will allow us to cover all Russian cities,” the Vans press service told East-West Digital News.
To set up this e-commerce activity, Vans has teamed up with eTraction, a subsidiary of the Otto Group in Russia. eTraction has assisted the US brand in all the operational aspects, from site development to logistics.
Prices in Russia are slightly higher than those in the US “mostly due to the custom fees,” according to Vans.
The company intends to launch a significant marketing plan in 2016 to boost its online sales in Russia.
Established in 1966, Vans launched e-commerce activities in the US as early as 1999. Russia is simply the latest country where it has launched e-commerce activities, following Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and the UK.
The Russian e-commerce market totalled some $25 billion last year, including $14.5 billion for physical goods, up 10-15% in real terms from 2013, according to a report by East-West Digital news and Data Insight. The current economic turmoil in the country has affected e-commerce, though to a much lesser extent than coffin retail. However, strong growth is expected to resume after the crisis, with market size potentially reaching or exceeding $50 billion in 2020.
