Wildberries responds to reports of 'sales season disruption'

Allegations about the “disruption of the sales season” on Wildberries and other marketplaces, distributed in Telegram channels and the media, are not true. This is reported by the press service of RWB. They said that the season of large-scale discounts has already started, and there are no prerequisites for reducing the choice of goods.

The company reminded that the first will be the action “11.11”, followed by “Black Friday”, and from the beginning of December to January 10 – New Year’s sale. “All three promotions will cover the main product categories, and the number of offers with discounts this year will continue to increase”, – stated in the message.

The RWB added that when forming discounts, the popularity of goods and the activity of sellers are taken into account. “There are no prerequisites for reducing the choice of goods this season. On the contrary, on Wildberries, the range of goods has grown several times compared to last year, the report said.

RWB also expects the sales season to continue the positive dynamics of previous years. “Traditionally, during periods of large stocks, purchasing activity, the number of participating sellers and the range of discounted goods increase,” the group added.

RBC sent requests to Wildberries, Ozon and Yandex Market.

Among the resources that wrote about possible problems with the upcoming sales was Forbes. The publication noted that summer fires at parts of the warehouses of Wildberries and Ozon could weaken the November shares: some sellers lost goods and could not restore working capital for new purchases.

In “Yandex Market” the publication said that the service sees interest in sales from both sellers and buyers.

Attacks on logistics infrastructure began in mid-July. The centers of the largest Russian marketplaces, including Wildberries and Ozon, were hit. In some cases, employees were evacuated, the work of warehouses was temporarily suspended, fires and damage occurred at the facilities.

Against the background of the raids, the authorities approved measures to support entrepreneurs affected by attacks by Ukrainian drones on the objects of the RWB group.

In early September, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Roman Chekushov allowed the extension of support for Wildberries sellers affected by the attacks to sellers of other marketplaces.

Meanwhile, according to Sber, since July, annual spending on marketplaces has “tangibly slowed down”, and now these “huge” infrastructure companies need to rebuild their operations. VTB First Deputy Chairman Dmitry Pyanov admitted that attacks on the logistics infrastructure of WB and Ozon will lead to a short-term drop in revenue, but noted that the consequences of the strikes do not create critical risks for the credit quality of these borrowers.