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The number of Chinese sellers on Ozon by the end of 2023 exceeded 100,000, a representative of the site told Vedomosti. Moreover, there are about 500,000 sellers on the site. Most of the sales of Chinese sellers are made up of electronic goods - mobile phones, computers and video cards, the interlocutor clarified. In addition, Chinese sellers sell clothing, household goods and children's goods, he listed.

To attract Chinese sellers, Ozon Global opened a representative office in Shenzhen in November 2022. At that time, a total of 12,000 sellers were registered on Ozon Global, and about 10,000 of them were Chinese, a company representative clarified to Vedomosti.

In 2023, the turnover of Chinese sellers on the site more than tripled compared to 2022, and the number of orders increased 5 times. Now the Chinese account for more than 90% of cross-border trade on the marketplace, an Ozon representative said. According to the General Director of Infoline-analysts" Mikhail Burmistrov, 100,000 Chinese sellers on Ozon are a “small” part of Chinese sellers who have been present on the Russian market on the AliExpress platform for many years. Sales from AliExpress were declining in 2023: in the fourth quarter they were below 30 billion rubles, which is 3.5 times less than in the same quarter of 2022, Burmistrov recalls. He predicts that by the end of 2024, the share of Chinese sellers in Ozon’s turnover will decrease and approach 2% versus 3% in the first quarter of 2024 (in January–March, according to the expert, the turnover of Chinese sellers on Ozon amounted to 17.1 billion rub.).

In 2023, Ozon's turnover increased by 111% year-on-year and exceeded RUB 1.75 trillion (RAS data). The company expected that in 2024 turnover, including services, would grow by approximately 70% to RUB 3 trillion.

An Ozon representative believes that “China practically does not compete with Russian manufacturers in terms of both key categories and delivery times, and market volume.” But the sellers themselves complain about fierce competition from Chinese sellers.

According to the General Director of Infoline Analytics, Mikhail Burmistrov, 100,000 Chinese sellers on Ozon are a “small” part of Chinese sellers who have been present on the Russian market on the AliExpress platform for many years. Sales from AliExpress were declining in 2023: in the fourth quarter they were below 30 billion rubles, which is 3.5 times less than in the same quarter of 2022, Burmistrov recalls. He predicts that by the end of 2024, the share of Chinese sellers in Ozon’s turnover will decrease and approach 2% versus 3% in the first quarter of 2024 (in January–March, according to the expert, the turnover of Chinese sellers on Ozon amounted to 17.1 billion rub.).

In 2023, Ozon's turnover increased by 111% year-on-year and exceeded RUB 1.75 trillion. (RAS data). The company expected that in 2024 turnover, including services, would grow by approximately 70% to RUB 3 trillion.

An Ozon representative believes that “China practically does not compete with Russian manufacturers in terms of both key categories and delivery times, and market volume.” But the sellers themselves complain about fierce competition from Chinese sellers.

For example, in April 2024, representatives of several Russian brands told Business FM that Chinese sellers were counterfeiting their products and selling them at lower prices. In particular, this problem was pointed out by the director of marketing and dealer sales of the Russian manufacturer of workwear Brodeks, Konstantin Belyaev, and the general director of the electronics seller Perfecto Group, Pavel Vodyankin.

As soon as a product becomes popular, Chinese sellers begin to offer it cheaper, Artem Ivanov, the owner of an online store selling more than 1,000 items of children's toys on Ozon, told Vedomosti. “In the product card there is an option to compare with other sellers, and often this is not in favor of Russian sellers: they sell at a higher price because the goods need to be transported, they need to be cleared through customs, and taxes must be paid,” he explains. A Russian seller can enter into an agreement with the supplier factory that it does not have the right to sell similar goods to Russia directly, he adds. “But the factory has neighbors who will do the same and sell goods without intermediaries,” Ivanov complains.

According to him, over the past two years he was forced to abandon about 200 positions, since it was unprofitable to sell at a price comparable to that offered by Chinese sellers. “For example, now the bubble season has begun. In 2023, we sold a soap bubble generator for 499 rubles, and a Chinese seller began selling it for 349 rubles, cheaper than our cost. And if in May 2023 we sold about 12,300 of these generators, then in May 2024 – a little more than 5,700. As a result, we will also refuse this product,” said Ivanov.

Russian sellers in most cases are against “Chinese expansion” for several reasons, confirms Sergei Semko, senior analyst in the logistics department at Data Insight. According to him, Chinese sellers compete on price, and also appropriate photos and descriptions of successful product cards and use them in their sales. Considering the fact that many Russian sellers on marketplaces sell Chinese goods, their fears are justified, Semko believes.

Up to 315 billion rubles or by 1.6%, according to Infoline Analytics, the volume of cross-border sales in Russia in 2023 increased relative to 2022. This amounts to 3.8% of the total volume of online sales of material goods

Chinese players really compete with Russian ones on price, confirms Maxim Gralnik, co-founder of the marketplace analytics service marketguru.io. But this, in his opinion, does not help the Chinese become major players with high sales on Russian sites, since for this they need to be on the first page of the marketplace and be able to work with advertising for the service. “Chinese factories will be able to master the advertising office only if they outsource these tasks, but then they will have to raise prices,” Gralnik concluded.

Chinese sellers have a long logistics shoulder, and fast delivery is important for high sales, confirms Anatoly Polezhaev, owner of the brand of educational aids for children Storkle. In addition, if a product is in all warehouses of the marketplace, then its position in search results is better, and foreign sellers cannot cover warehouses in Russia, the entrepreneur explained.

But if Chinese sellers on Ozon are not yet a big risk factor for Russian ones due to long delivery times, then Wildberries’ entry into this market could fuel competition, Gralnik argues. In December 2023, Wildberries CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk said in an interview with RBC that the company also began working with manufacturers and sellers from China. She assured that this would not infringe on the interests of Russian business; it would remain a priority for the company. The products of Chinese sellers are already presented on the showcase, among the categories are electronics, home, beauty, etc., says a representative of the site. The company did not disclose the number of Chinese sellers and sales volume.

Trying to attract Chinese sellers to the site, Wildberries gives them the opportunity to store goods directly in the marketplace’s warehouses in Russia, Gralnik said. According to him, Chinese stores with fast delivery within a few days are already represented on the site. In addition, Chinese brands that were previously represented on the site through intermediaries have appeared on the marketplace, for example, Hilda construction tools.

 “Russian sellers will not be able to compete specifically with this brand, because it came out directly,” Gralnik said.  A Wildberries representative did not answer the question about the availability of goods from foreign sellers in the marketplace’s warehouses in Russia.

“The appearance of Chinese sellers on Ozon did not affect Russian sellers,” says Alexey Fedorov, head of the e-commerce council of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. According to him, delivery times remained long, and after the duty-free threshold was reduced [from April 1, 2024] to 200 euros, purchasing goods from foreign sellers ceased to be economically profitable. In addition, many Russians do not want to share their passport data with marketplaces, and this is necessary when ordering a parcel from abroad, Fedorov added.

He also does not consider the appearance of Chinese sellers on Wildberries a threat to Russian ones. “If the goods are in the Wildberries warehouse, it means that duties and VAT have been paid, i.e. the price is higher and the assortment is extremely limited,” Fedorov explained.

Despite the attempts of the largest Russian marketplaces to attract foreign sellers, the volume of cross-border sales in Russia in 2023 grew by only 1.6% to 315 billion rubles, which is 3.8% of the total volume of online sales of material goods, Burmistrov said. He predicts that in 2024 cross-border sales will decrease by 20% and will not exceed 250 billion rubles - this is 2.2% of total online sales.

Source: https://www.vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2024/06/06/1041931-kazhdii-pyatii-prodavets-na-ozon-iz-knr?utm_campaign=newspaper_6_6_2024&utm_medium=email&utm_source=vedomosti