Wildberries
{{Short description|Largest Russian online retailer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Wildberries
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| industry = E-commerce
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| founded = 2004
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| hq_location_city = Moscow
| hq_location_country = Russia
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| key_people = Tatyana Kim
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| website = {{URL|wildberries.ru}}
}}
Wildberries ({{langx|ru|Вайлдберриз}}, Vayldberriz) is the largest Russian online retailer. It was founded in 2004 by Tatyana Kim.{{cite news |last1=Khrennikov |first1=Ilya |title=Russia's Biggest Web Retailer Was Founded by a Language Teacher on Maternity Leave |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-30/russia-s-top-web-store-founded-by-a-mom-on-maternity-leave |access-date=19 October 2018 |work=Bloomberg |date=30 August 2018}}
Besides Russia, Wildberries serves: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.{{Cite web |date=9 August 2023 |title=Wildberries запустил в Азербайджане программу по открытию пунктов выдачи заказов — новости от редакции «Бизнес Секреты — Тинькофф |url=https://secrets.tinkoff.ru/novosti/wildberries-zapustil-v-azerbajdzhane-programmu-po-otkrytiyu-punktov-vydachi-zakazov/ |access-date=20 August 2023 |website=Бизнес-cекреты |language=ru-RU}}{{Cite web|url=https://tass.ru/ekonomika/13698037|title=Wildberries запустил продажи в Узбекистане|language=ru|date=14 February 2022|publisher=ТАСС}} Wildberries had more than 48,000 employees as of 2020. Until 2022, the company previously had services in France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United States, and Ukraine. Wildberries sells 37,000 brands of clothing, shoes, cosmetics, household products, children's goods, electronics, books, jewelry, food and much more. The company processes an average of 750,000 online orders per day.
History
The company was founded in 2004 by Tatyana Kim, who started the business at the age of 28 in her Moscow apartment while on maternity leave from teaching. She realized how difficult it was for her and other young mothers to shop for clothes for themselves with a newborn at home. Her husband, Vladislav Bakalchuk, an IT technician, soon joined her to help build the business.{{Cite web |last=Kroll |first=Luisa |title=From Kylie Jenner To Daniel Ek, The 10 Most Notable New Billionaires Of 2019 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2019/03/20/from-kylie-jenner-to-daniel-ek-the-10-most-notable-new-billionaires-of-2019/ |access-date=8 August 2024 |website=Forbes}}
In 2017, Wildberries became Russia's largest online retailer, surpassing Ulmart.{{cite news |title='Неинтересно продавать то, что произведено в Китае и завозится без налогов' |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3586567 |access-date=19 October 2018 |work=Коммерсантъ|date=30 March 2018}} The company, originally based in Milkovo, Moscow Oblast, relocated to Moscow in 2018.
In 2018, Wildberries pulled in $1.9 billion in sales and attracted 2 million daily visitors.{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Jennifer |title=Oprah, Kylie Jenner And The Other Richest Self-Made Women In the World |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/2019/03/08/oprah-kylie-jenner-and-the-other-richest-self-made-women-in-the-world/ |access-date=8 August 2024 |website=Forbes |language=en}} Based on Forbes' analysis, Kim was worth approximately $1 billion in 2019.{{Cite web |last=Au-Yeung |first=Angel |title=Former English Teacher And Founder Of Online Retailer Becomes Russia's Second-Ever Female Billionaire |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2019/02/22/founder-of-popular-e-commerce-site-becomes-russias-second-ever-female-billionaire/ |access-date=8 August 2024 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
In 2019, Wildberries had revenues for $3 billion with net profit increasing from Rbs1.88bn to Rbs7bn, confirming Wildberries’ leading role in the Russia's fast-growing $30bn ecommerce market.{{Cite news|title=How Tatyana Bakalchuk took Russia's ecommerce throne|url=https://www.ft.com/content/b5d2cfc8-62c2-11ea-abcc-910c5b38d9ed|newspaper=Financial Times|date=11 May 2020|access-date=12 May 2020|last1=Seddon|first1=Max}}
In January 2020, Wildberries started operating in the European Union with the launch of sales in Poland. It planned to open about 100 order distribution units in Poland and opened the first in Warsaw.{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/wildberries-poland-idUSL8N29E1X5 |title=Russian online retailer Wildberries starts sales in Poland |date=9 January 2020|work=Reuters|access-date=15 January 2020|language=en}}
The company managed to expand in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, as foreign companies sought to offload their excess inventory at a steep discount.
Forbes Magazine included Kim to the list "The 10 Most Notable New Billionaires Of 2019".
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the company reported an increase in sales volumes almost doubled – up to $6 billion. About $305 million are accounted for overseas markets.{{Cite web|url=https://www.benzinga.com/news/21/04/20580659/wildberries-russias-answer-to-amazon-launches-us-sales|title= Wildberries, Russia's Answer To Amazon, Launches US Sales|date=12 April 2021|publisher=www.benzinga.com}}
In February 2021, Kim bought a small Russian bank Standard Credit [https://stkbank.ru (official site)]. The bank's capital is 302 million rubles, the purchase price is unknown. In Wildberries the bank will be used for settlements with suppliers and for servicing consumer services.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/6026928a9a7947582bac1b67|title=В Wildberries объяснили приобретение банка "Стандарт-кредит"|language=ru|date=12 February 2021|publisher=RBC}} In August 2021, the bank was rebranded as Wildberries Bank.{{Cite web|url=https://www.interfax.ru/business/782916|title=Банк Татьяны Бакальчук сменил название|language=ru|date=6 August 2021|publisher=Интерфакс}} In January 2022, Wildberries Bank started withdrawing prepaid virtual bank's "WB-cards" with a digital wallet.{{Cite web|url=https://www.interfax.ru/business/816398|title=Дочерний банк Wildberries начал предлагать покупателям предоплаченные карты|language=ru|date=20 January 2022|publisher=Интерфакс}}
In April 2021, Wildberries launched an online store in the United States.
Since June 2021, Wildberries has started online sales by installment and on credit in Russia.{{Cite web|url=https://tass.ru/ekonomika/11584151|title=Wildberries запустил сервис покупки в рассрочку и кредит|language=ru|date=7 June 2021|publisher=TASS}}
In July 2021, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Wildberries and Kim because they sold Russian military uniforms and anti-Ukrainian books.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4917405|title=Украинский министр объяснил введение санкций против Wildberries |language=ru|date=24 July 2021|publisher=kommersant.ru}} The company said it did not have assets in Ukraine or capital, so sanctions would not harm Wildberries, but only Ukrainian entrepreneurs using its platform. Wildberries said that it sold goods that other foreign players sold in Ukraine. Wildberries accused Ukraine of double standards and discrimination of business. The company's speaker Wildberries did not expect harm to the company.{{Cite web|date=27 July 2021|title=Russia's Wildberries says Ukraine sanctions will hurt entrepreneurs, not company|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/russias-wildberries-says-ukraine-sanctions-will-hurt-entrepreneurs-not-company-2021-07-27/|access-date=28 July 2021|website=Reuters}}
In February 2022, the company launched the program of 5 billion roubles to subsidy assistance of merchant discount rate for local sellers providing quick delivery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.interfax.ru/business/819769|title=Wildberries направит 5 млрд рублей на поощрение продавцов с быстрой доставкой|language=ru|date=2 February 2022|publisher=Интерфакс}}
In April 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kim and Wildberries were added to sanctions list for indirect support of the war; it was noted that "is the largest taxpayer in the Russian Federation".{{Cite web |title=Польша ввела санкции против основательницы Wildberries Бакальчук, главы "Роснефти" Сечина и миллиардера Дерипаски |url=https://zona.media/news/2022/04/26/polska |access-date=11 October 2024 |website=Медиазона |language=ru}}{{Cite web |date=26 April 2022 |title=Польша ввела санкции против Бакальчук, Дерипаски и Касперского |url=https://www.forbes.ru/society/463943-pol-sa-vvela-sankcii-protiv-bakal-cuk-deripaski-i-kasperskogo |access-date=11 October 2024 |website=Forbes.ru |language=ru}}
In the summer of 2022, the company became a kit manufacturer for various Russian Premier League clubs, such as FC Spartak, PFC CSKA and FC Zenit.
In July 2023, Wildberries announced the launch of travel services on its platform. Users are offered package tours, as well as booking hotels and hostels, both in Russia and abroad. At the time of the launch of the service, the company sold only offers from travel agencies and aggregators.{{Cite web|url=https://www.banki.ru/news/lenta/?id=10988930|title=Wildberries запускает продажи туров и сервис для брони отелей|language=ru|date=19 July 2023|website=Banki.ru}}
On 13 January 2024 a fire broke out at the company's warehouse in the village of Shushary near St. Petersburg (coordinates: {{Coord|59|47|01| N|30|26|44|E|}}), whose area was 70 thousand m2.[https://www.gazeta.ru/social/2024/ 01/13/18122791.shtml Все товары сгорели. Главное о пожаре на складе Wildberries в Петербурге], Газета.ру, 13 January 2024{{Cite web |title=Huge fire rips through Russian online retailer's warehouse in St. Petersburg |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-firefighters-battle-put-out-huge-fire-online-retailers-warehouse-2024-01-13/ |access-date=8 August 2024 |website=Reuters|date=13 January 2024 }} Extinguishing of the fire lasted 30 hours. According to preliminary estimates, the amount of damage from the fire was approximately 11 billion rubles.{{Cite web |date=13 January 2024 |title=Ущерб от пожара на складе Wildberries в Шушарах может достичь 11 млрд рублей |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6453040 |access-date=8 August 2024 |website=Коммерсантъ |language=ru}} The warehouse had operated without permission from the Russian State Construction Supervision Inspectorate (Gosstroynadzor) and had never been visited by the fire inspectorate.{{Cite web |date=13 January 2024 |title=Власти заявили, что сгоревший склад Wildberries работал без разрешения |url=https://www.rbc.ru/business/13/01/2024/65a274329a79477487320c4e |access-date=8 August 2024 |website=РБК |language=ru}}
In June 2024, Wildberries announced a merger with the outdoor advertising firm Russ Group to build a digital market and a payments platform.{{cite news |title=Russia's Richest Woman Gets Putin's Nod to Build Payments System |url= https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-21/russia-s-richest-woman-gets-putin-s-nod-to-build-payments-system |access-date=31 July 2024 |work=Bloomberg.com |date=21 June 2024 |language=en}} The merger was completed by October.{{Cite web |date=1 October 2024 |title=Wildberries CEO Announces Successful Merger With Russ Group Following Dispute |url= https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/10/01/wildberries-ceo-announces-successful-merger-with-russ-group-following-dispute-a86525 |work=The Moscow Times}} Kim's husband Vladislav Bakalchuk (the couple were in the process of getting divorced) called the deal a hostile takeover and claims that Tatyana was being manipulated.{{Cite web |url= https://www.rbc.ru/business/05/08/2024/66b0cd8b9a794739f9221723 |title=Муж Бакальчук фразой "с Татьяной поступят так же" оценил свое отстранение|language=ru|date=5 August 2024|website=RBK}} Vladislav was unexpectedly supported by the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. He also called the deal a hostile takeover and the owners of Russ Group swindlers. He accused the head of Russ Group, Robert Mirzoyan, and his brother Levan of not allowing Kim to communicate with her family and promised "not to stand aside."{{Cite web|url=https://ura.news/news/1052796755|title=Кто такие братья Мирзоян, которых Кадыров обвинил в рейдерском захвате Wildberries|language=ru|date=24 July 2024|website=Ura.ru}} In August 2024 as a result of the merger, RVB LLC was created. The head of the new company was Russ Group CEO Robert Mirzoyan.{{Cite web |url=https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/66b08f229a79474e0274310a |title=Wildberries передала обязательства основного юрлица компании РВБ |language=ru|date=5 August 2024|website=RBK}}
On 18 September 2024, a group of armed men led by Vladislav Bakalchuk tried to enter the company's headquarters in Moscow, leading to a shootout that left two people dead.{{Cite web |date=18 September 2024 |title=2 Killed, Several Injured After Shooting Outside Wildberries Office in Moscow |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/18/2-killed-several-injured-after-shooting-outside-wildberries-office-in-moscow-a86404 |work=The Moscow Times}} Vladislav was subsequently arrested on a murder charge.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/husband-russias-richest-woman-arrested-murder-charge-after-office-shootout-2024-09-19/|title=Husband of Russia's richest woman arrested on murder charge after office shootout|publisher=Reuters|date=19 September 2024|access-date=19 September 2024}}
References
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