Page 13 - bne_Tech_12_2020

Fintech & E-commerce
December 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
Sber displays its leadership ambitions in the Russian e-commerce space
Sber, Russia’s state-controlled financial and tech giant (previously known as Sberbank), is displaying its ambitions in the field of e-commerce, in spite of several previous unsuccessful attempts, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN).
Last week, Sber announced the creation of
a dedicated division to run its existing assets
in this field. Among these are Sberlogistika and Sbermarket, two services which were acquired in 2019 (Shiptor, Instamart).
Sber now intends to become the majority shareholder of Sbermarket, a grocery delivery service which is currently part of the O2O joint venture on equal terms with Mail.ru Group. In public statements made yesterday, Lev Khasis, first deputy chairman of Sber’s executive board, said his company will invest RUB12bn (nearly $158mn at the current exchange rate) to purchase an additional stake in this asset and support its development.
Sber and Mail.ru Group, which created O2O just a year ago, are now seeking ways to optimise or even restructure their partnership.
Among the other key assets of this JV are:
• Ready-to-eat food delivery service Delivery Club;
• Food delivery service Local Kitchen;
• Grocery delivery service Samokat;
• Restaurant selection service SberFood.
Sber is also the sole owner of YooMoney, Russia’s leading payment service provider and e-wallet, which previously operated as a JV with Yandex under the brands ‘Yandex.Checkout’ and ‘Yandex.Money.’
Sber aims to become one of the top three Russian e-commerce players by 2023, Khasis said. Among the next steps on this path will be the launch of
a “superapp” and of an in-house multi-category marketplace as early as next year.
New acquisitions are likely – but Khasis specified that, in the foreseeable future, Sber would
target mid-sized players rather than the largest companies on the market.
Unsuccessful first attempts
So far Sber’s attempts to assert itself as an e-commerce leader have not been so successful:
• In 2017, the company agreed with Yandex
a JV plan to create a “leading e-commerce ecosystem” in Russia. Sber put $500mn in
the project, which led to the launch of two marketplaces: ‘Bringly’ for cross-border e-commerce and ‘Beru’ for domestic operations. While the former shut down one year after the launch, the latter fell under the control of Yandex as the two companies put an end to their alliance in mid-2020.
• Earlier this year Sber prepared to buy a large stake in Ozon, Russia’s first multi category e-commerce platform – but the talks stalled, Sberbank demanded and obtained RUB1bn ($12.9mn) in compensation for terminating the agreement, and Ozon finally found the money it needed on the NASDAQ.
• More recently Sber started discussions with M.Video, a leading consumer electronic retail chain, regarding a potential involvement in its marketplace Goods.ru. Such a partnership, if confirmed, would be insufficient: in spite of its fast growth, Goods.ru remains a relatively small player on the Russian e-commerce scene. Last year
it generated RUB8.67bn ($13.5mn) in turnover,