In the first nine months of 2022 Wildberries saw turnover increase 95% year on year to over RUB1 trillion (around $16.5bn). The online retailer has enjoyed a wildly successful couple of years, it now dominates the Russian market and is almost twice the size of its closest competitor.
Indeed, while it may not be a household name in the West, Wildberries is ranked by WebRetailer as the world’s tenth-biggest online market place, ahead of the likes of Target and Pinduoduo, when ranked by monthly visits. And the outlook is only set to improve: rumours are circulating in the Russian media that Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress is winding down its Russian operations as the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions make the Russian market an increasingly hostile environment for foreign companies.
If this is true, the news will be well received by all rival online retailers, including Yandex, Ozon, Sber and Avito. Most of all, however, AliExpress’ exit would be welcomed by Wildberries, which is the country’s biggest e-commerce player, and stands to inherit much of AliExpress’ market share.
Is the Kremlin betting on Wildberries to consolidate e-commerce as foreign players exit Russia?Read More
