The past two years have seen a rapid increase in the number of Chinese sellers on Russian e-commerce platforms, with Chinese products now accounting for a significant portion of Russia’s global import volume. One such platform is Ozon, which was founded in 1998 and has become a leading e-commerce platform in Russia, boasting millions of daily visits, over 32.7 million buyers, 180,000 sellers, and offering over 150 million products.
Stepan Gusamov, CEO of Ozon Global, the platform’s cross-border division, stated that his division was established in 2021 to focus on expanding their business overseas, particularly in the Chinese market. In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Gusamov highlighted that China is the world’s largest e-commerce market, accounting for 46.3 percent of global retail e-commerce sales. With this potential in mind, Ozon Global opened an office in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in November, aiming to attract no fewer than 100,000 sellers by 2024.
According to Gusamov, Chinese goods currently account for about 95 percent of Ozon’s total orders, and sales from China have grown rapidly, with the figure in 2022 being four times higher than in 2021. The monthly number of new seller registrations from China also increased almost tenfold after Ozon established its China office.
Trade between China and Russia reached a record high of $190.27 billion in 2022, growing 29.3 percent year-on-year. E-commerce has great potential in Russia, with a current penetration rate of only about 11 percent, compared to China’s 30 percent. Russian consumers’ demand for Chinese-made goods presents a window of opportunity for Chinese foreign trade companies and brands to enter the Russian market.
Ozon now hosts many well-known Chinese brands, including Xiaomi, Huawei, Neatsvor, Honor, MSI, Asus, and Roborock. To provide Chinese sellers with better services, the Russian company has launched Ozon Global Partner Delivery to ensure fast and stable delivery of goods from China to Russia, which has cut delivery times in half. Gusamov emphasized that Chinese brands and manufacturers should consider entering the Russian market through Ozon Global, as the platform sees a fast-growing trend among Chinese brands in their business plan for the new year.
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