Sellers go to couriers – Newspaper Kommersant No. 232 (7433) dated 12/14/2022

Russian sellers of large foreign brands are looking for new opportunities to earn money in the face of foreign companies leaving the country. Inventive Retail Group, which developed Nike stores, will launch a service for ordering goods from abroad. The company has extensive experience in creating online stores, but competition among such services is growing, and consumers are not used to them yet, experts warn.

Inventive Retail Group (IRG) plans to launch a brandly delivery service for goods from abroad, Kommersant discovered. The domain is registered as part of the eCommerce Solutions LLC group. The short description on the site says that brandly is designed to deliver “top brands”, guarantees returns and will accept Russian bank cards. The full website is still under development. The IRG did not comment on the new project in more detail at this stage.

According to Data Insight partner Boris Ovchinnikov, IRG’s business was previously built on the representation in Russia of strong international brands, most of which left the country this year. The launch of new directions is necessary for the company, and it is logical that it turned its attention to alternative procurement models, the expert says. So, after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and the tightening of Western sanctions, the Danish toy manufacturer Lego and the American manufacturer of sportswear and footwear Nike, whose stores were operated by IRG, announced the termination of work in the Russian Federation. In place of the points, Lego IRG launched its project “The World of Cubes”. And Nike stores will have to close in the face of a halt in new supplies, IRG said.

According to Mr. Ovchinnikov, intermediary services for ordering goods from foreign online stores can be a promising line of business in Russia. In the spring, a similar platform CDEK.Shopping was launched by the logistics operator CDEK, and in November delivery from Asos, Farfetch, Zara, H&M, Nike appeared at Russian Post.

Often, services involve their own employees or partners to buy goods in foreign online stores. The order first gets to a foreign warehouse, and then sent to Russia. Kommersant’s source in the e-commerce market believes that IRG can use the services of an agent with a bank card of a foreign bank, who will order the goods. But such a scheme is distinguished by long delivery times – a month or more, he warns. Difficulties also remain in the organization of logistics between Europe and the Russian Federation, Kommersant’s interlocutors said. CDEK.Shopping has an average order delivery time of 30 days, Russian Post promised to deliver the goods within 14 days.

Svetlana Nelyubina, General Director of the BUYMI shopping service, notes that, taking into account the current exchange rate, purchases directly on foreign online platforms in the medium and premium segment can be up to two times more profitable than in offline stores in Russia. According to BUYMI, today 55% of purchases through the service are for clothes, 25% for shoes and 15% for accessories. The most popular brands in BUYMI are Nike, UGG, Dolce & Gabbana, Saint Laurent, Jacquemus and others.

Boris Ovchinnikov names already high competition, the risks of falling under secondary sanctions, the complexity of user interfaces and a low degree of consumer awareness among the main difficulties for the development of such platforms. Although IRG has a track record of building quality online stores and promoting these platforms, it is likely that the company will overcome these challenges better than competitors that have exited the B2B market, the expert says. According to Svetlana Nelyubina, the development of the delivery of goods from abroad will depend on exchange rates, the purchasing power of Russians and their interest in familiar foreign brands.

Alina Savitskaya