Russia has calculated the losses incurred by marketplaces due to strikes on warehouses
The Russian e-commerce market could lose about 400 million orders and 400 billion rubles in revenue due to Ukrainian drone attacks on marketplace warehouses. This estimate was provided by the analytics firm Data Insight, which has already lowered its growth forecast for the Russian online market by 20%. According to analysts, Wildberries suffered the greatest losses.
The Russian e-commerce market has revised its expectations for 2026 following attacks on the warehouses of major marketplaces. The analytics firm Data Insight estimates that due to operational issues at warehouses, the market could lose approximately 400 million orders and 400 billion rubles in revenue. According to its estimates, there will be about 9.6 billion online orders in Russia this year. Previously, the company had forecast a figure of 10 billion.
The forecast for total sales has also changed. Data Insight now expects about 15 trillion rubles instead of the 15.4 trillion previously forecast. Verin emphasized that, according to the company’s assessment, attacks on marketplace warehouses were the reason for this revision.
Wildberries was hit the hardest
Wildberries accounted for the bulk of the losses, Virin noted. Problems arose because some products became unavailable to shoppers in certain cities or disappeared from sale altogether. Longer delivery times became another problem. Goods now have to be transported over greater distances because the usual logistics routes and warehouse capacities have been disrupted.
“The bombing of warehouses led to a drop in sales at WB due to a lack of product availability and longer delivery times,” Virin explained. According to him, all these losses will be reflected in the second half of 2026. Attacks on Wildberries’ warehouses began on July 18, and an Ozon warehouse was attacked on August 25. Thus, logistics problems arose precisely at a time when the Russian online market was expected to continue growing.
Buyers simply canceled some of their orders
The warehouse issues affected more than just the marketplaces themselves. Shoppers also began to change their behavior. According to Virin’s estimate, about 30% of the orders that were “stuck” or for which products were no longer available were eventually simply canceled by customers.
The rest of the demand did not disappear. Shoppers began looking for the products they needed on other online platforms. Some people also returned to brick-and-mortar stores. In other words, the demand that large marketplaces could not meet shifted partly to competitors and partly to brick-and-mortar retail. Most often, shoppers turned to brick-and-mortar stores for clothing, shoes, and books. Next, according to Virin’s assessment, came household goods.
Shopping centers saw an increase in shoppers
Amid issues with delivery and product selection, Russian shopping malls saw a rebound this summer. Forbes previously reported that shopping malls in Russia began to see an increase in foot traffic. This was an unexpected shift following a prolonged period of declining traffic.
Analysts attribute part of this effect to a shift in consumer behavior. When the desired product isn’t available on a marketplace or requires too long a wait, people are more likely to look for alternatives in brick-and-mortar stores. For brick-and-mortar retailers, this means an additional flow of customers. At the same time, for online marketplaces, the loss of available inventory and delivery issues translate into direct sales losses.
What This Means for the Russian Online Market
Prior to the attacks on warehouse infrastructure, the Russian online retail market had been growing rapidly. Large marketplaces were capturing an increasingly large share of the retail market, and shoppers had grown accustomed to ordering products through apps with home delivery or pickup at distribution centers. The warehouse issues have shown just how heavily this model relies on stable logistics. If a large warehouse stops operating, shoppers in certain regions immediately lose access to part of the product selection.
For marketplaces, this also means additional costs. Goods must be transported between regions, routes must be rerouted, and alternative storage solutions must be found. According to Data Insight’s assessment, this will result in a noticeable reduction in projected market figures for the year. At the same time, the company itself emphasizes that this assessment specifically concerns the impact of attacks on warehouse infrastructure. Actual year-end results may vary depending on how quickly marketplaces restore their logistics and how actively shoppers continue to switch between different sales channels. This was reported by Data Insight founder Fyodor Virin.
In early August, the Wildberries marketplace announced a tender for the supply of galvanized metal mesh in eight regions of Russia where its logistics centers are located.
