Wildberries stores began to lose profits after their warehouses were hit
Following a series of attacks on Wildberries’ logistics centers, owners of order pickup points began losing customers and revenue. In some regions, their revenue in July fell by 15–20% year-over-year, and on peak days, the decline reached 30–40%. Market representatives warn that some pickup points may become unprofitable, and by the end of the year, about 15% of them may close.
Following the disruptions at the marketplace’s warehouses, owners of order pickup points faced a decline in turnover and revenue. The situation could lead to problems with payments to employees and landlords. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry also confirmed the drop in revenue. According to Chamber of Commerce and Industry representative Oleksiy Fedorov, in some regions in July, the profits of Wildberries pickup point owners were 15–20% lower than last year.
On the busiest days, the decline reached 30–40%. The reason is simple: due to warehouse issues, people are receiving fewer orders, shipments are delayed, and, as a result, the flow of customers to pickup points is decreasing.
Wildberries pickup points have begun to be put up for sale
Problems for pickup point owners began even before the attacks on the logistics infrastructure. Business owners have increasingly begun selling their locations. According to Avito, from January through June, the number of listings for Wildberries pickup points increased by 26% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the number of people interested in buying such a business increased by only 6%.
As of August 3, more than 9,300 Wildberries pickup points—out of approximately 98,000 operating across Russia—were listed for sale. In Moscow, sellers listed an additional 65 pickup points for sale between July 20 and August 2. In several cases, they offered buyers discounts of up to 30%.
According to Roman Samoilov, director of the “Consumer Sector and Agribusiness” practice at Strategy Partners, the profitability of most of these outlets currently stands at around 5–10%. “The profitability of most outlets is currently around 5–10%, and in some cases, they are operating with minimal profit or are running at a loss,” Samoylov noted. He believes that for businesses to return to normal profitability, they need to restore customer traffic while simultaneously cutting other costs.
Businesses Are Asking for Help
The Association of E-Commerce Market Participants has already proposed a plan to support pickup point owners. The organization has called on property owners to reduce rent by 50% for six months or to grant entrepreneurs a rent holiday. The Association of E-Commerce Enterprises stated that, together with Wildberries, it is also considering possible measures to support pickup point owners.
Despite this, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry expects the Wildberries pickup point market to shrink nonetheless. Alexey Fedorov predicts that about 15% of these locations could close by the end of the year.
Attacks on Wildberries warehouses began on July 18
According to the Russian side, the Ukrainian military began attacking Wildberries’ logistics infrastructure on July 18. As of early August, according to estimates by the publication “Versтка,” the total area of the attacked warehouses exceeded 1.5 million square meters. This represents about 27% of Wildberries’ total warehouse capacity.
According to this data, a total of about 20 of the marketplace’s logistics centers were hit. Among them are facilities in Elektrostal, Krasnodar, Nevinnomyssk, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, and St. Petersburg. As a result, the problems at the large warehouses began to affect not only the company itself and its customers. The consequences also affected thousands of owners of small pickup points, for whom the number of orders directly impacts their earnings. Yevgeniya Chernitskaya, chair of the board of the Association of E-Commerce Market Participants, reported this to Izvestia.
On the night of August 5, drones attacked the Wildberries logistics complex in Aleksin, Tula Oblast, Russia. The strike hit the company’s largest warehouse in Russia’s Central Federal District, with an area of approximately 300,000 square meters.
