Demonstrating the growing importance of the Russian market, eBay is opening a representative office and subsidiary in Russia under the name eBay Marketplaces. The US giant will be represented by Vladimir Dolgov, previously Country Manager for Google and a former General Manager at Ozon.ru, a leading online retailer.
The news was reported by the Russian business daily Vedomosti and confirmed by eBay.
After eBay launched its Russian-language version in March 2010, Russian clients proved the most active buyers and sellers among eBay’s European users.
In 2011, the weekly traffic of the international platform grew 121% year on year and the number of new registered users is up 81% year on year, said eBay’s Head of International Expansion for Europe Rob Cassedy in a recent exchange with East-West Digital News.
“The most popular item categories ordered from Russia are Fashion and accessories and Consumer technology (gadgets), which Russian consumers can purchase before they become available on the local market,” he explained.
In the spring of last year, the Russian-language eBay officially released its free classifieds service, allowing Russian users to place sale offers at fixed prices in any of a thousand Russian cities.
