Jewelery lovers from France, Germany and Italy can now buy creations from Sokolov, one of the most established Russian jewelers, through Zalando.
Sokolov is the first Russian jewelery brand to have made its products available on this major Western European marketplace.
Zalando customers can receive these Russian-made items within just 1-2 days (premium service) or up to four days (standard delivery terms). Sokolov says it started with premium products (trendy gold and silver items), with plans to make available several hundreds of additional items in the coming months. The Russian brand also plans to launch its own brand-store on the marketplace.
“Direct communication with customers in large foreign markets is the most important element in our strategy,” said Sokolov Managing Partner Artem Sokolov, cited by Retail.ru.
“Working on Amazon has been for us a precedent, showing the potential of jewelry e-commerce in Europe. We’re actively expanding our presence online, not only through marketplaces”
Thus, by the end of the year, Sokolov sales will start in Germany through a dedicated mobile app and an online store on the website, Sokolov indicated.
Established in 1993, Sokolov began to expand retail sales internationally this year, reports Retail.ru. Its partner network currently spans across 22 countries: Australia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Canada, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, UAE, Poland, Belarus, Romania, Ukraine, the USA and Uzbekistan. Through Amazon, the Russian jewellery maker sells to the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Poland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and France.
Sokolov’s latest move with Zalando exemplifies the growing effort of Russian brands and manufacturers to go global via online sales. Other notable online exporters include Faberlic (beauty products), Krakatau (clothing) and Maskulo (men’s “concept clothes”).
Meanwhile, such marketplaces as Aliexpress, eBay and Wildberries offer opportunities to a variety of smaller Russian producers.
However, outbound cross-border sales still lag far behind inbound sales, with products from China and from the West enjoying large domestic demand. In 2020, Russia’s inbound cross-border e-commerce volume was in the the range of $3 billion, according to conservative estimates from Russia’s National Distance Selling Association.
Update Dec. 28, 2021: Sokolov launched its own online shop in Germany, and considers similar initiatives in Italy, Spain and other European countries in 2022. (Source: Retail.ru)
