SPUTNIK are a new marketplace based in Russia which aim to sell “trustworthy” goods to Russian consumers upon their launch this autumn.
They will focus on selling a wide range of goods including clothes, footwear, accessories, household equipment and more.
SPUTNIK’s chief executive officer, Vladimir Stupnikov attributes the planned launch to the increased customer demand for “inexpensive good from China and “eagerness of Chinese [suppliers] to supply large and fast-growing Russian market.”
Vladimir says that he is now working on contacting sellers from Europe to join the marketplace. The plan is to expand the marketplace to a global level, allowing overseas sellers to reach Russian consumers.
How can sellers join?
Sellers who wish to move beyond their borders and expand into the new territory can send their request to join via this email- [email protected]. SPUTNIK’s development team will take three working days to review the merchants’ application.
SPUTNIK says that they’re looking for merchants with an existing mobile app which they can use to personalise customers’ shopping experience. This will allow merchants to target individual shoppers with promotions, discounts and tailored communications.
The marketplace haven’t revealed to Tamebay the commission fees for trading on SPUTNIK. They say that they’re currently reviewing various commissioning models to suit SPUTNIK’s offering.
Expansion plans
SPUTNIK say that the platform will be available in English, Russian and Chinese languages for seller accounts. However, the launch will see the site being available in the native language to the customer in Russia, with plans to implement English and Chinese languages in the near future.
While Russia isn’t a typical territory in which merchants ofter expand, it presents many opportunities due to its size. Conquering the largest country in the world by area can almost feel like expanding into two or three countries without having to deal with its diversities.
