Forbes valued Wildberries at $14.5 billion in a rating of Russia’s most valuable tech companies, published Wednesday - second only to search giant Yandex. Nasdaq exchange last year.įounder Tatyana Bakalchuk still owns 99% of the company, making her the richest woman in Russia. The company is highly secretive about its finances, stating only that it sold $6 billion worth of merchandise in 2020 and that it is profitable - a difference from key rival Ozon, which turns a loss and raised $1 billion in funding for its own expansion plans on the U.S. The firm is now active in 13 markets, development director Vyacheslav Ivashchenko said Wednesday. Wildberries purchased a minor Russian bank - Standard Credit - in February in a bid to get an in-house payments system as it continues its rapid expansion across Russia and internationally. Wildberries controls around 13% of Russia’s e-commerce market, according to analytics firm Data Insight - more than twice the share of its nearest rivals, such as Ozon as well as spin-off initiatives from some of Russia’s largest companies, including Yandex, Sberbank and Mail.Ru. and Europe - with companies still jostling for position and investing heavily to win customers. However, the country lacks a clear dominant player - a role filled by Amazon in the U.S. Online retail is growing rapidly in Russia, and the pandemic has accelerated its development by years, analysts say. Wildberires will use local partners in each country to handle delivery logistics. The move follows other recent expansions, including into Germany, and means Wildberries is now active in all four of the EU’s largest consumer markets.Ĭustomers in France, Italy and Spain can use dedicated sites and mobile apps tailored to their market, the products on offer and in their language. The company has started selling in France, Italy and Spain, it said in a statement sent to The Moscow Times. This year Forbes named Bakalchuk, 45, the richest woman in Russia with estimated wealth of over $13 billion.Russia’s top online retailer, Wildberries, launched in three major European countries Wednesday. Wildberries was founded in 2004 by Bakalchuk, who was then on maternity leave, together with her IT technician husband Vladislav. Why has Wildberries been in the news In January, Russias largest ecommerce retailer, Wildberries, began sales in its tenth country of operation, Germany. In Russia, the online giant has tens of thousands of employees. The group added that "as part of the transition period" workers will be receiving extra payments. Wildberries said it is "in dialogue" with its employees to explain how the new policy can be used to increase their income. The employee, who insisted on anonymity, told AFP that the action had taken place in 30 cities and that 90% of employees were "dissatisfied" with the rules. However, it said there was still "discontent" over the new pay rules, which were described as "unachievable."Ī Wildberries employee involved in the campaign said on Tuesday that the strike had been put on hold pending a response from management. The first distribution unit in Europe has already been opened, in Warsaw. The ecommerce company has launched its online store in Poland, where it plans to open about 100 branded points of delivery. On Saturday, the petition was updated to say that management had ordered "additional payments" to employees. Wildberries, the largest online retailer of Russia, has officially entered the European Union. The income of the remaining 10% decreased "because their speed of work was lower," Wildberries said. The company added that because the contribution of each employee is now taken into account "more carefully," about 90% of workers in August received a higher income. Wildberries confirmed that it had introduced a new pay policy that takes into account the number of items processed by employees of pickup points. "All our pickup points were and are operating," a spokeswoman told AFP. In a statement on Tuesday, Wildberries denied that its employees had gone on strike. The petition, which has gathered around 33,000 signatures so far, said the introduction of a new payment system over the summer resulted in workers losing up to 40,000 rubles ($550) of their monthly wage. In a petition last week, Wildberries employees said the new payment system resulted in workers losing wages and announced the start of work-to-rule action, meaning they will do no more than the minimum required by their contract until their demands are met. The company owned by Russia's richest woman Tatyana Bakalchuk is one of the largest online marketplaces in the country and has enjoyed success across the former U.S.S.R. Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries on Tuesday defended its decision to pay employees of pickup points based on their speed, a policy that triggered discontent among workers.
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