Berries — again: Wildberries intends to go abroad
Wildberries is showing interest in the markets of Southeast Asian countries - in particular, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India — as well as Ethiopia, Izvestia learned. A pilot launch is being prepared in the latter country, and cooperation negotiations are underway with Indian companies, the RVB confirmed. The interest in these markets is explained by their dynamic growth. However, experts note that an online retailer may face certain difficulties when entering new territories. Izvestia investigated whether Wildberries could become the "Russian Amazon" and why the company chose Asian and African markets.
Which markets does Wildberries want to enter?
The combined company Wildberries & Russ (RVB) is considering entering new international markets, two sources close to it, as well as an investment banker who knows about it from its top managers, told Izvestia. The marketplace is showing interest in Southeast Asian countries, in particular Sri Lanka, Thailand and India, as well as Africa (Ethiopia), said a source close to the company. According to him, "there are already certain agreements with the African country." Another source claims that the online retailer is "looking broadly" at other global markets.
The team is preparing for a pilot launch in Ethiopia, which will result in a decision on further development, a representative of the RVB confirmed to Izvestia. At the same time, the company does not exclude the possibility of developing mutual trade with Asian countries, in particular with India, he said. According to him, negotiations are already underway with Indian partners, and the "Made in India" section has been launched on the marketplace's website. At the same time, it is too early to talk about plans to expand to other regions and countries, the representative of the online retailer stressed.
RVB was established in 2024 as a joint venture between Wildberries (65%) and Russ Group (35%), combining marketplace, advertising technologies and logistics into a single digital ecosystem. The organization manages sales, logistics, and advertising services, as well as develops factoring and IT platforms for sellers. In 2024, its turnover in the e-commerce segment exceeded 4 trillion rubles, which is more than 1.5 times higher than a year earlier. Net profit for the same period increased 3.5 times, to 104 billion rubles, RVB reported in March 2025. The founder of the platform is Tatiana Kim, who last year took first place in the Forbes ranking of the richest women in Russia with a fortune of $7.1 billion.
By March 2022, the online retailer was represented in 18 countries, including the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France and others. Subsequently, the online retailer stopped operating in unfriendly states. The company currently operates in Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as in China and the UAE (goods are imported from these two countries).
What are the global markets interested in?
Wildberries' desire to enter the global market is linked to the possibility of forming global trade chains, creating balanced turnover between countries and strengthening the export potential of Russian producers, the company's representative said. According to him, African countries can become another promising market for the marketplace, covering about 1.5 billion people. There is "huge potential" there: high demand for a wide range of products with limited supply in the online retail segment, he explained. The organization intends to become a "key technology partner" for the African market, bringing digital expertise in infrastructure, logistics, advertising and customer service, the company representative added. According to him, international development will help stimulate the growth of the export potential of Russian sellers.
A slowdown in the growth rate of the domestic e-commerce market may spur the company's international expansion, says Anastasia Priklyova, Associate Professor of the Department of International Business at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. In January – November 2025, the volume of the Russian market amounted to 10 trillion rubles, which is 30% more than in the same period a year earlier, Artem Sokolov, president of the Association of Internet Commerce Companies (AKIT), told Izvestia. In 2024, the growth over the same period was 40%. At the same time, the slowdown in growth is due to the rapid development of e-commerce in previous years, he believes. Now, according to him, it has been replaced by a stage of organic growth typical of a mature market.
The interest in Asian and African countries is due to the friendly attitude of these states towards Russia, Anastasia Priklyova noted. In her opinion, this can have a positive effect on the loyalty of the population to the marketplace. The main criteria that the company uses when evaluating a particular market are the level of competition, population, infrastructure development and digitalization, the expert listed. At the same time, none of these countries has an absolute advantage, she added.
For example, global players are practically not present in Ethiopia and Sri Lanka, but the level of digitalization there remains low, the expert noted. On the contrary, India and Thailand have high growth potential due to their developed infrastructure and population, but at the same time, competition in these countries is higher: Amazon operates in India, Alibaba operates in Thailand, she noted.
By the end of 2025, the volume of the e-commerce market in Africa exceeded $40 billion, and by 2029 it will grow to $56 billion (an increase of 40% in four years), according to data from the analytical company Statista. In Southeast Asian countries, this figure is $180-200 billion, and by 2030 it could double to $400 billion, the consulting firm IMARC predicts.
Wildberries is unlikely to become a "Russian Amazon" in the global market in the foreseeable future, says Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing Partner of VMT Consult. The income of the American marketplace is about 50 times higher than that of its Russian competitor, Anastasia Priklyova noted. At the same time, the highly profitable markets of North America and Europe are virtually closed to the domestic company, she said.
The lack of a worldwide extensive network of suppliers and logistics routes, as well as restrictions on payment options due to sanctions against Russian banks, may restrain the global expansion of the Russian marketplace, Ekaterina Kosareva added. An additional complication may be the political instability in developing countries, as well as the work on data protection that is just being created in these countries.
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