The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Russia’s online mass market fashion leader has launched in three Baltic states, adding Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to its rapidly growing roster of international markets. It is now present in 16 countries outside its home market.
Though it faced challenges in Ukraine this summer, Wildberries’ aggressive expansion plan has seen it reach as far westward as Germany in Europe and penetrate markets such as Israel and the US. The strategy is key for the company as it fends off advances from would-be competitors such as search giant Yandex, who set up a $1 billion e-commerce venture with state owned Sberbank, Mail.ru which has a partnership with China’s Alibaba, and Ozon.
Orders in the Baltic region will be delivered by international logistics operators to 270 partner pickup points in Estonia, 210 in Latvia and 300 in Lithuania, as well as by courier delivery in 8-10 days. The company offers approximately 10 million SKUs from thousands of brands of clothing, footwear and accessories as well as cosmetics and perfumes.
In 2020, Wildberries reported a turnover of $6 billion and, by the end of that year, saw export sales increase by 95 percent to 23.7 billion roubles ($325 million).
Learn more:
How to Capture More of Russia’s E-Commerce Market
With Wildberries racing to become Russia’s answer to Amazon, many brands are turning to devoted fashion platforms like Lamoda.ru and Aizel.ru but the local e-commerce market poses many challenges.
Imran Amed shares his observations from a trip to the wealthy desert metropolis, home to the most lucrative stores for many of the world’s top fashion brands.
Spurred by rapid growth in the pure luxury market, global brands operating in lower-priced segments like contemporary fashion are entering the country or accelerating expansion plans.
This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features India’s textile industry, Chinese beauty major Yatsen and Ghana’s newest garment factory.
Luxury fashion retailers in the oil-rich African nation keep a low profile to provide a discreet shopping environment for consumers and avoid flaunting the elite nature of their own business.