In the world of e-commerce, Amazon dominates in the United States and Europe, while Alibaba reigns in China and broader Asia. But in many emerging markets that the giants haven’t reached, local e-commerce champions have emerged. Across the sprawling Eurasian region, that champion is Wildberries, founded over 20 years ago by former English teacher Tatyana Kim in Moscow.
Today, Wildberries is a massive digital platform operating in eight countries — Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Georgia — as well as partnering with sellers from China and the UAE to offer their products on the marketplace. The platform boasts nearly 80 million customers, over one million sellers, and an annual sales turnover exceeding $50 billion. Recently, the company announced plans to expand into new international markets such as Ethiopia.
Clothing for young mothers
Wildberries’s journey began small, at a time when smartphones hadn’t yet taken over and consumers were mainly shopping offline. In 2004, while on maternity leave, Tatyana Kim was thinking of ways to make buying clothes convenient for young mothers like herself, who lacked the time to shop in stores. So she decided to try selling clothing online.
Kim founded the online marketplace Wildberries and became its CEO, launching the site with photos from German mail-order catalogs like Otto and Quelle. When an order came through, she would personally process it, place the orders from Germany, pick up the parcels, and deliver them to customers. Wildberries’ innovation was that it didn’t require prepayment and worked with a low commission rate (around 10%) that was the same across all regions of Russia, regardless of distance.
At first, Kim stored the orders in her apartment. But as the business grew rapidly, she realized she needed warehouse space–as well as programmers, call center operators and couriers. After the 2009 global financial crisis, Wildberries succeeded in negotiating direct procurement of goods from European brand distributors.
The next step in the company’s evolution was the transition to a marketplace model. Instead of purchasing products itself and bearing the risks, Wildberries invited sellers to start selling products on its platform, earning a commission from their sales. This model quickly attracted thousands of sellers–many of them first-time entrepreneurs, who were able to launch their business through the Wildberries platform. To this day, this model supports the development of small businesses in the countries where Wildberries operates.
Logistics infrastructure
In 2011, Kim noticed a growing demand among buyers for trying on clothes before making a payment. In response, Wildberries created its own order pickup points – small spaces equipped with fitting rooms where customers could try on clothes and shoes which they ordered online before paying for them, as well as return items that didn’t fit right on the spot.
The pickup points were a game-changer, and Wildberries — working with franchise partners — established them across Russia and later in neighboring countries. The company now operates more than 90,000 pickup points across its countries of presence, ensuring that more and more customers can access a Wildberries pick-up point within walking distance from their work or home.
These points handle around 90% of Wildberries’s deliveries–with the product selection on the marketplace having grown far beyond clothing to span hundreds of product categories. The pickup points are not only popular with customers, but they’re also more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than courier deliveries, although the company still uses couriers.
Since 2017, as the business grew, Wildberries transitioned from renting warehouse space to building its own. The company now has over 4 million square meters of warehouse space in Russia and is building modern warehouses in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus, which will become the largest logistics facilities in these countries, improving delivery speed and sales turnover for local customers.
The largest warehouses are equipped with advanced AI-powered technology, including automated sorting conveyor systems, floor robots for moving shelves, and “robotic arms” for rearranging products. These innovations improve efficiency and improve working conditions for warehouse employees by reducing the physical burden and monitoring for safety on the warehouse floor.
Betting on AI and social commerce
Kim believes in the transformative power of AI to enhance the user experience and blur the lines between online and traditional shopping. Wildberries has been actively rolling out AI-powered tools on its marketplace for customers and sellers alike. These range from an AI-based shopping assistant that helps customers find what they need, to tools that generate live photos or videos for product listings, as well as virtual fitting rooms that let customers create a moving avatar of themselves to try on clothing items on the marketplace.
Last year, Kim announced the launch of Wibes, a social-commerce app similar to TikTok Shop. The platform allows users to discover and buy products directly while watching short videos of up to 90 seconds, including reviews, curated picks, trend content, as well as photos and brief articles.
Wibes generates a personalized feed based on user subscriptions, liked videos, and previous purchases on Wildberries. Products featured in videos can be added to the cart with a single tap and instantly appear in the user’s cart on both the Wildberries app and website. The app thus combines content consumption, inspiration, and seamless shopping within one integrated experience.
Turning into an ecosystem
In 2024, Kim announced a strategic partnership with Russ, Russia’s largest outdoor advertising operator. As a result of the alliance, the company is building a broader ecosystem and offering unique conditions for its sellers. Many market experts view the move as a breakthrough for the Russian e-commerce sector.
The partnership also has a strong social dimension. To help small businesses bring their products online — including across borders — Wildberries has rolled out several large-scale initiatives to support local manufacturers across its markets, alongside projects aimed at developing entrepreneurial education.
Moreover, Wildberries has evolved far beyond a traditional e-commerce platform. The company is expanding into adjacent online services — including fintech tools and an online taxi service — in a bid to develop into a full-fledged ecosystem. With the technology and experience Kim’s company has in creating user-friendly products, branching into related segments or expanding into other markets is a natural next step.
Wildberries is currently exploring opportunities to enter markets in Africa, the Middle East, and potentially Southeast Asia. And based on the strong demand for innovative online tools across emerging markets, the potential for scaling is vast.
