Clothes on demand – Newspaper Kommersant No. 221 (7422) dated 11/29/2022

The departure of European marketplaces from the Russian market did not become an absolute obstacle for Russians who are used to buying goods on these Internet sites. More and more services offer intermediary services when placing orders with Western online retailers. Following private structures, Russian Post decided to deliver goods from the EU and the UK, through which it will be possible to buy clothes, in particular, from Asos and Net-a-Porter. But experts don’t expect such services to become mainstream because of problems with order payments and continued delivery challenges.

Russian Post has launched delivery from European marketplaces, including Asos, Net-a-Porter, Farfetch, Yoox, Mytheresa and Zara, H&M, Nike brand websites, the company told Kommersant. In the summer, the Global Mail platform also made it possible to order goods from US online stores.

After registering on the Global Mail website, the user receives a warehouse address in Europe for delivery, a service representative explains. In the presence of a foreign bank card, the buyer can place an order on his own, and after paying for it, add a link to the goods in the Global Mail personal account for delivery. To pay for purchases using Russian bank cards, you will need to enter links to goods in your personal account and pay the bill. An employee of Global Mail will check the availability of goods in a foreign online store, after which he will make a purchase.

The paid order arrives at a warehouse in Berlin, from where it is sent to Russia. Delivery time – from 14 days. The service commission will be 10% of the order value or at least $7, according to the platform website. Return of goods can be issued only before they are sent to Russia.

In May, another delivery operator, CDEK, also announced the launch of a service for ordering goods from abroad.

CDEK.Shopping Managing Director Dmitry Pivovarov notes that the demand for orders is growing 2–3.5 times monthly. According to him, about 40% of Russian users’ purchases abroad are for Zara, Uniqlo, H&M clothes and shoes, about 20% for Apple and Dyson electronics. Svetlana Nelyubina, General Director of the BUYMI shopping service, notes that since the launch of the platform in the fall, customers most often order clothes and shoes on Farfetch and Net-a-Porter. She adds that in order to pay for purchases through BUYMI, the client can issue a virtual payment card from foreign banks.

Russian Post has more of the necessary infrastructure to build efficient logistics, says Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline-Analytics. Data Insight partner Boris Ovchinnikov notes that in order to develop the new service, Russian Post needs to provide a user-friendly interface for an audience accustomed to shopping in European online stores. Among the additional risks, the expert does not exclude the possibility of blocking the platform in the EU and the UK, since such a service, in fact, is a bypass of the restrictions imposed by foreign brands.

In general, at the current exchange rate, the demand of Russians for orders from abroad remains, says Mikhail Burmistrov.

Against this background, the cross-border trade market is also being actively explored by Russian marketplaces, for example, Ozon through its Ozon Global division, the expert adds. Boris Ovchinnikov agrees that after the suspension of work and the withdrawal of some foreign brands from the Russian market, the potential demand for online shopping from Europe has increased.

At the same time, he does not expect that services that act as intermediaries when buying on European marketplaces will become massive due to existing problems with payment for orders and delivery. Dmitry Pivovarov also speaks about the continuing problem with the organization of logistics between Europe and Russia. According to him, the average delivery time for CDEK.Shopping orders is 30 days. At the same time, in the pre-New Year period, it can be increased due to high demand and the workload of operators, adds Mr. Pivovarov. However, BUYMI has not yet recorded any difficulties with the delivery of goods. Her average service time, according to Svetlana Nelyubina, is two weeks.

Alina Savitskaya