Earlier this month two major Russian multi-channel retailers, Enter and Ulmart, announced almost simultaneously their plans to let third-party merchants sell or promote offers via their sites.
“Amazon’s Marketplace generates almost 40% of their sales, and I think we’re going the same way,” said Maxim Nogotkov, the Russian billionaire who backs Enter.ru, speaking to the Russian business daily Vedomosti.
Enter’s offer to third-party retailers will include the entire ordering, fulfillment and delivery process, Nogotkov added.
Enter is a hybrid offline/online retailer selling virtually everything from furniture and DIY materials to consumer electronics and health and beauty products. Launched in 2011, the company quickly asserted itself as a major player on the Russian e-commerce scene, generating around $200 million dollars in revenue in 2013 (without VAT, including sales via offline outlets, call center and catalogs).
Experimental marketplaces vs. established players
Another major multi-channel retailer also intends to launch a marketplace in the middle term, East-West Digital News learned recently.
So far, Ozon.ru, a leading player on the Russian e-commerce scene, has offered the most notable example of a marketplace launched by an online retailer – but with limited results to date. After enrolling up to 150 merchants – covering segments in which Ozon.ru itself has no presence – the marketplace was put on hold in 2013 in order to improve technical elements, with plans to resume development this year.
Russia also has a few established online offer aggregators. Among them, Yandex.Market – by far the leader – is progressively transforming itself into a full-fledged marketplace, while eBay, which already records considerable cross-border sales volumes, aims to launch domestic transactions later this year.
Several other sites, including Molotok.ru, Price.ru, Tiu.ru and Wikimart.ru, deserve attention due to their important traffic or original features, according to a recent study by East-West Digital News.
Screen space for sale
In a separate move, as reported by Oborot.ru, Ulmart, a leading retailer of computers, home electronics and household appliances, has announced it will open its massive advertising inventory – three million page views per day – to third party retailers.
The company’s advertising capacities include not only some space on Ulmart.ru, but also the screens of Ulmart’s offline “cybermarkets,” where customers may choose and order items.
Ulmart will make its advanced analytics and targeting features available to its advertisers.
Last month, Ulmart announced that its sales exceeded $1 billion last year (without VAT, including both online and offline sales, as well as returns), making it one of Russia’s top e-commerce players. The company expects to see 60% growth this year.
- RUSSIAN E-COMMERCE REPORT – The total volume of Russian online retail reached $16 billion last year, up from $13 billion in 2012, not including cross border sales. In partnership leading universities and consultancies, EWDN has published an in-depth research on this industry, including a comprehensive review of online marketplaces. To receive free insights or to order the full version (2014 edition), please contact us at [email protected].
