OZON is Russia’s only multi-category comprehensive e-commerce platform, which opened to Chinese sellers in 2021. In recent years, OZON has experienced a period of rapid development. Thanks to the change in the trade environment brought about by the “Belt and Road” initiative, the trade volume between China and Russia has increased significantly. Chinese goods have brought huge market demand and opportunities to Chinese sellers in filling the market vacancy left by the withdrawal of Western brands.
The OZON platform has a significant influence on the Russian e-commerce market. As of January 1, 2023, Russia’s permanent resident population exceeded 146 million, of which nearly half of the population (about 70 million) shop online, and more than 60 million people log in to OZON at least once a month. This huge market base makes OZON a blue ocean, and its e-commerce market share grows by 40% to 50% each year. The advantage of online shopping lies in the richness of product selection, especially in small cities in Russia, where consumers face limited offline choices.
The OZON platform is open to Chinese sellers. Huang Xiao, president of its China region, pointed out that the significant increase in Sino-Russian trade volume has provided more development opportunities for Chinese sellers. Recently, OZON announced the establishment of its China headquarters office in Shenzhen, focusing on strengthening investment promotion efforts, attracting high-quality Chinese sellers, and at the same time building overseas warehouse business, optimizing logistics services, and enhancing consumer loyalty.
On the OZON platform, Chinese sellers must meet certain requirements, including providing a business license in Chinese and English, having more than 2 years of experience on Amazon or AliExpress, providing competitive product prices, and setting up a good after-sales service system. At the same time, OZON will officially cooperate with JD Logistics to launch a new fulfillment center in Dongguan to shorten product delivery time and improve logistics efficiency.
For Chinese sellers who want to enter the Russian market, OZON is an important channel worthy of attention and trial. The huge potential of the Russian market and the continued development of the OZON platform have brought broad business opportunities to sellers. By reasonably selecting popular categories, ensuring competitive products, high-quality logistics and after-sales services, Chinese sellers are expected to succeed on OZON and reap the rich fruits of the Russian market.