Russia’s largest e-commerce platform starts in Germany
Russia’s largest e-commerce platform is coming to Germany. (Photo: stasokulov / Shutterstock.com)
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Germany’s online retailers are facing new competition: Russia’s largest e-commerce provider Wildberries is now also active in Germany.
Wildberries continues to expand and from now on also serves German customers. The online retailer, founded in 2004, is now active in a total of ten markets. After Poland and Slovakia, Germany is the third EU country where Wildberries sells its goods. “In the near future, Wildberries is also planning to enter the French, Italian and Spanish markets,” announced Wildberries manager Vyacheslav Ivashchenko.
In addition to clothing, Wildberries also sells toys, electronic devices, tools and decorative items. In Germany the online platform has its own Website and about apps for iOS and Android available. The company has been considered the largest Russian e-commerce provider since 2017. The platform’s turnover in 2020 was the equivalent of 4.9 billion euros. The main source of sales is the fashion segment, which was responsible for around half of sales despite the decline in demand last year.
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Tatyana Bakalchuk: With the resale of Otto products to become a billionaire
According to Forbes estimates, Wildberries founder Tatyana Bakalchuk currently has a fortune of more than $ 1 billion. The Russian of Korean descent is only the second billionaire in the country – and the only one who could be described as a self-made billionaire. Her e-commerce empire began in 2004 when the former teacher was on maternity leave. Bakalchuk initially resold fashion items from the German mail order company Otto in Russia. It was only when Otto entered the Russian market with another partner in 2006 that Bakalchuk looked for other sources of supply for their products.
Today around 91,000 retailers use the e-commerce site, which has been expanded into a sales platform. In 2020, Wildberries received 323.8 million orders and sold 575.3 million products. According to the company, the platform is now used by 40 million people. The turnover of Wildberries is now 4.9 billion euros and has increased fivefold in the last three years alone. The expansion into Western Europe that has now begun is expected to bring Wildberries additional sales of three billion euros over the next five years, according to company boss Bakalchuk.
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