Russian local sellers rise to seize market share

As the country accelerates its recovery from the pandemic , Russia's retail industry is undergoing a transformation. Coupled with rising real wages and changes in consumer behavior, Russia's retail industry is even outpacing the booming global retail industry. While the long-term leaders of the Russian market are international sellers , local retailers are taking advantage to catch up .

According to local media reports, Auchan and Metro, two European hypermarket giants, have fallen from the list of Russia's top ten retailers , replaced by Russian retail giants Ozon and Svetofor in the top ten.

Currently, nine of the top ten retailers are Russian companies , and one of the main beneficiaries of this change is e-commerce.

The pandemic has driven more online consumption, expanding five times faster than the physical economy. Ozon is a good example , being compared locally to e-commerce giant Amazon . Ozon raised $1.2 billion in its IPO last year , and its second-quarter results showed that the number of orders placed on the platform increased from 14.6 million to 40.9 million, with sales up 108.4% over the same period.

Food retail is another winner. In the first half of this year, online food sales in Russia tripled to 149 billion rubles ($2 billion). X5, the food retail group that remains Russia’s largest retailer, recently announced that total sales in the third quarter increased by 11.6% year-on-year , according to bne IntelliNews.

Still, as consumption soars in a rapidly changing market, Russian retailers are indisputably outperforming their international rivals, which some would put down to their ability to quickly interpret and adapt to changing demands.

For example, X5 pays special attention to its e-commerce business, with sales increasing by 157% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2021. At the same time, Ozon is also strengthening the expansion of its express delivery services .

It is clear that the key to growth in this competitive industry is to gain a large customer base as quickly as possible , and international sellers are expected to try more innovative services and products to win back their market share in Russia.

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Russia

E-commerce