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Leaders
September 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 7
Russian big three e-commerce firm Ozon sees record turnover on pandemic-fuelled online shopping surge in 2Q20
Russia’s leading multi-category e-commerce platform, Ozon Group, announced on September 3 its turnover rose to a record in the second quarter, as the global pandemic spurred more people to shop online.
Turnover, or gross merchandise value (GMV), surged 188% year on year to RUB45.8bn ($611mn) in 2Q20, Ozon said in a statement. In the first half of the year, GMV reached RUB77.4bn, which is 152% higher compared with the same period last year.
GMV is the total value of orders processed through Ozon and revenue from services to buyers and sellers on the platform, excluding Ozon Travel. GMV is inclusive of VAT, net of discounts, returns and cancellations.
AFK Sistema, dual listed in London and Moscow, and Russia’s leading private equity fund Baring Vostok are Ozon’s main shareholders.
“The market may react positively to the stellar performance of Ozon,” Sova Capital’s analysts Oksana Mustiatsa and Mikhail Terentiev said in
a research note. “The number of new buyers who placed an order through Ozon in April was up 84% y/y on the back of the pandemic. The company also noted that the bulk of consumers have continued to shop online even after the easing of lockdowns.” Ozon’s GMV in the second quarter exceeded
that figure for the entire 2018, as the lockdown accelerated Russians’ move to online shopping.
Every fourth person who made his or her first purchase on Ozon in the spring went on to place
a second order in the second quarter, while every seventh person placed two or more orders. Ozon customers also started increasingly going online to buy items they need every day. Every other order placed by new Ozon customers over the summer period included a fast moving consumer good (FMCG) product.
“The pandemic not only brought spontaneous shoppers online, but also contributed to shaping new habits among Russian shoppers, who
have grown used to making regular purchases via this channel,’’ said Daniil Fedorov, chief financial officer at Ozon Group. “Judging by our customers’ behaviour in the second quarter
of 2020, people are not going to give up online shopping any time soon.”
Ozon orders for items that families need for the back-to-school season have grown 74% in the last two weeks of August vs an increase of 53% in the same period last year, according to company data.
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