There won't be a major Black Friday sale in Russia due to the crackdown on Ozon and Wildberries

Russian retailers are warning of a possible shortage of goods during the November and December sales following fires at the warehouses of the Ozon and Wildberries marketplaces. Some companies have lost their inventory and won’t be able to restock in time for the start of the discount season.

“After the warehouse fires, some have put new product shipments on hold, some have cut back on volumes, some have shut down entirely, and some simply won’t be ready in time for the season,” said Alsu Sharafetdinova, owner of the Posh Style clothing brand.

Ksenia Ryasova, president of Finn Flare, noted that at the end of the year, retailers typically sell off remaining stock from previous seasons’ collections, but some of these inventories have been lost. As a result, sales may cover fewer items.

According to Data Insight, since late July, the warehouses of Russian marketplaces have suffered at least 45 attacks. At least 2.1 million square meters of warehouse space were affected, and sellers’ losses are estimated at hundreds of billions of rubles.

The number of shipping documents issued this year has decreased by 12% year-over-year. NC Logistic also forecasts a possible 8–10% decline in shipping volumes by the end of the year.

At the same time, Wildberries stated that it does not expect to reduce its product range and plans to hold sales in November and December. Ozon did not comment on the situation.

On the night of October 18, drones attacked St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. The strikes caused fires at oil facilities and an Ozon warehouse, and also damaged the data center of VK, the company that owns the social network “VKontakte.” In addition, an emergency power outage occurred in the region, leaving about 20,000 people without electricity.

The Russian marketplace Ozon announced that, effective October 13, Ingosstrakh’s insurance program for sellers covering mass damage to goods and drone attacks will be suspended.

Wildberries and Ozon are hindering the Russian government’s efforts to raise taxes on overseas purchases.