PRESS: Clothes seller WildBerries earns most on Russian online mkt

MOSCOW, Oct 25 (PRIME) -- Russian online store WildBerries became the leader on the local e-commerce market in January–June after expanding its assortment from apparels to household goods, while the previous champion Ulmart stepped back to the second rank, business daily Kommersant reported Tuesday citing Infoline-analytics’ data.

Revenue of WildBerries spiked 18.6% on the year to 17.2 billion rubles, excluding the value-added tax, in the reported period, while Ulmart’s revenue slipped 1.2% to 16.7 billion rubles.

“WildBerries did not only continue to expand the network of goods collection points, but also the assortment thanks to new categories: household goods, toys, sports gear, perfumes, books, electronics and accessories to them,” Infoline-analytics’ General Director Mikhail Burmistrov said.

The company will lead as of the end of 2016 as well, he said.

Ulmart lost because it wanted to raise its margins of sales of household appliances and electronics amid worsening quality of client service.

“After focusing on the implementation of innovative projects, Ulmart faced a dramatic decrease in competitiveness in its core business of selling household appliances and electronics,” Burmistrov said.

Among Ulmart’s innovative projects, which consumed resources, are its loyalty program, electronic trading floor and new goods categories, the expert said.

Among other top companies on the country’s e-commerce market are electronics sellers Citilink, M.Video, Svyaznoy, Eldorado and DNS, as well as apparel seller Lamoda.

The country’s e-commerce market swelled 26% on the year to 405 billion rubles, according to a report earlier unveiled by the Association of Internet Trade Companies, GfK and postal operator Russian Post.

(62.2349 rubles – U.S. $1)

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