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Race to Become Russia’s Amazon Is Heating Up
The pandemic pushed millions of Russians to try e-commerce. With Amazon absent, a handful of local players jockey for dominance.
Workers at the Wildberries distribution center in Podolsk, Russia.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Covid-19 has driven a projected 10 million more Russian consumers online, accelerating the race to become the country’s answer to Amazon.com Inc.
The chance to dominate e-commerce in the world’s biggest country is still very much up for grabs. Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, controls only 13% of the market, even after its sales doubled in the first nine months of the year. By contrast, Amazon accounts for about half of the U.S. market.