How to Open an Online Store in Russia 2025

Russian internet users are dedicating more time to marketplaces and e-commerce platforms. At the BIG E-COM FORUM 2024, Mediascope Product Manager Anton Chesnykh shared insights into how Russians engage with these services.

In October 2024, 80% of Russians aged 12+ visited e-commerce platforms at least once, with 51% accessing them daily. On average, users spend 25 minutes per day on these platforms, making up 5% of their total online time.

The growth of online sales reflects a broader trend as businesses increasingly shift from traditional retail to digital platforms, offering everything from groceries to electronics. While some brands thrive on marketplaces like Wildberries, many struggle to stay profitable and disappear just as quickly.
In this article, we'll walk you through the steps to start your own online store in 2025, covering the key starting points and strategies to create a successful, sustainable e-commerce business in an ever-evolving market.

Key Takeaways:

• Starting an online store in 2025 is an exciting opportunity, and with the right approach, you can tap into Russia’s expanding e-commerce market.
• By carefully selecting your niche, finding reliable suppliers, and leveraging the best marketplace platforms, you can position your business for success.
• Tools like AdsPower can streamline your operations with features like multi-store management and automated advertising, helping you stay ahead in a competitive market.

  
  

• Analysis services like MPStats help track market trends and product performance, enabling you to optimize inventory, pricing, and marketing strategies to stay ahead of competitors.

What is a Marketplace?

A marketplace is an online platform that connects buyers and sellers, offering a centralized hub for products and services. These platforms handle essential aspects of the selling process, including payment processing, logistics, and marketing. Global giants like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba have become dominant forces in e-commerce, while in Russia, marketplaces such as Wildberries, Ozon, and Yandex. Market leads the industry. By using these established platforms, businesses can access a wide audience without the substantial time and financial investment needed to create and maintain their own online stores.

Step-by-Step Guide to Opening an Online Store on a Marketplace in Russia 2025

Starting an online store is more cost-effective and easier than running a physical business. You don't need to hire staff, lease space, or manage inventory directly—contractors can take care of storage and delivery. This guide will walk you through the process of launching your online store in Russia, helping you start generating revenue quickly and efficiently.

Step 1: Choosing a Niche Market

To begin, conduct market research to select your niche, define your target audience, and draft a business plan. Key factors to consider when choosing your niche:

• Product Cost: Lower-priced products are easier to sell, though be mindful that products under 1,000 rubles may face challenges due to high delivery costs.
• Product Size: Opt for small, lightweight items to minimize shipping costs and simplify storage.
• Growth Potential: Look for niches with room for growth, such as expanding product ranges or increasing market reach.

Use tools like Yandex Wordstat to check search volume and Google Trends to track demand over time. You can also explore marketplace analytics tools to discover the best-selling products on platforms like Ozon and Wildberries.

Step 2: Selecting Profitable Products

Popular mass-market items like clothing, electronics, and cosmetics continue to dominate online sales. Meanwhile, specialized categories—including plumbing supplies, smart home devices, and photography equipment—show strong growth potential. However, before making a significant investment in your online store, test your chosen niche first. Create a simple landing page featuring your products and add a lead capture form. This low-cost approach helps you evaluate market interest in your offerings before committing substantial resources.

Step 3: Finding Product Suppliers

• Research successful competitors' supply chains and sourcing strategies to identify reliable suppliers and competitive pricing.
• Network with suppliers directly by attending industry trade shows, exhibitions, and business events to build strong relationships.
• Evaluate potential suppliers by carefully comparing their pricing, minimum order requirements, and delivery conditions.
• Partner with two to three dependable suppliers for your core products—this strategy protects your business from disruptions if one supplier faces difficulties.

Step 4: Choosing a Marketplace for Your Online Store in Russia

After completing the initial stages—selecting your niche, analyzing market trends, and sourcing products—your next crucial step is choosing a marketplace platform. This decision forms the foundation of your e-commerce business and can significantly impact your store's success.
See Top 10 Marketplaces in Russia for detailed platform comparisons.

Step 5: Start Listing Your Products and Publish Your Online Store

Once your platform is set up, focus on creating compelling product listings that convert:

1. High-Quality Photos: Showcase your products with multiple high-resolution images from various angles.
2. Detailed Descriptions: Craft clear, concise product descriptions that emphasize essential features, benefits, and technical specifications.
3. SEO Optimization: Incorporate relevant keywords naturally into product titles and descriptions to enhance search visibility.
4. Pricing and Offers: Maintain competitive pricing and create attractive promotions through discounts, bundle deals, or time-limited offers.
5. Customer Reviews: Actively seek customer feedback and engage with reviews to establish credibility and trust.

Step 6: Essential Tips to Boost Your Online Sales

Optimizing Product Listings with Bulk Editing

Use tools like AdsPower’s Synchronizer to streamline your workflow by bulk editing product listings across multiple windows simultaneously. This powerful feature allows you to make consistent updates to numerous products at once, significantly reducing the time spent on manual adjustments, so you can focus on growing your business.

Automating Advertising with RPA
With AdsPower’s RPA feature, you can fully automate your advertising campaigns. This allows you to schedule ads to run at specific times and have them repeat automatically according to your set parameters. By automating the process, you can ensure consistent ad performance without the need for manual intervention, saving you time and effort.

Using Market Analysis Services

Analysis services like MPStats help you track market trends and product performance. These tools show which items sell best across platforms, letting you spot current demand and fine-tune your product lineup. With this market insight, you can better manage your inventory, adjust pricing, and shape marketing strategies to stay ahead of competitors.

Multi-Store Management with AdsPower

Managing multiple online stores becomes more challenging as your business expands. AdsPower's multi-store management feature simplifies this by providing a single, centralized dashboard to monitor and control all your stores. This streamlined system saves time, increases productivity, and maintains consistency across operations. With all your stores managed in one place, you can grow your business smoothly while focusing on strategy—without the complexity of switching between multiple platforms.

Ready to explore AdsPower? Click the button below to start your free trial! You can also watch our step-by-step video tutorial to master the platform!

Top 10 Online Marketplaces in Russia: Best Platforms for E-Commerce Success

1. Wildberries

Wildberries is Russia's largest online marketplace, featuring over 50,000 brands across 25 product categories—from fashion and electronics to home goods and beauty products. The platform's vast customer base and diverse product range make it an ideal choice for businesses of all sizes to reach broad audiences and gain visibility in the Russian market.
Explore Our Blog to Start Your Wildberries Sales Journey Quickly

2. Ozon

Ozon is one of the pioneers in Russian e-commerce, with a strong reputation for its broad product offerings, including books, electronics, clothing, and more. Its well-established customer base and diverse categories make it a reliable choice for businesses targeting a wide range of consumers.
Explore Our Blog to Start Your Ozon Sales Journey Quickly

3. Yandex.Market

As part of the Yandex ecosystem and after merging with Bery, Yandex.Market offers a broad range of categories including electronics, household items, and cosmetics. It benefits from high traffic within the Yandex platform, making it a great choice for businesses wanting to tap into a massive audience.

4. SberMegaMarket

Launched by Sberbank, SberMegaMarket features over 2.5 million products across diverse categories. With Sberbank’s backing, it benefits from high customer trust and offers a secure shopping environment. This platform is ideal for businesses seeking reliable services and a wide customer base.

5. Lamoda

Lamoda is one of the top Russian platforms for fashion and accessories, known for its strong reputation in the industry. Offering a curated selection of clothing, shoes, and accessories, Lamoda caters to fashion-conscious consumers in Russia and beyond. For businesses in the fashion sector, Lamoda provides a high-quality marketplace with excellent customer engagement.

6. M.Video

M.Video offers a wide selection of products, from TVs and smartphones to kitchen appliances and smart home devices. The platform's commitment to quality ensures that only genuine, reliable products are available, which builds buyer trust and confidence in sellers' offerings.

7. Joom

Joom is a highly advertised platform in Russia, ranking second in European sales and gaining global recognition. The platform's modern, intuitive mobile app delivers an exceptional shopping experience. While the platform charges a relatively high commission of 30% and allows only small markups, it remains a worthwhile option for sellers.

8. AliExpress Russia

AliExpress, as an international marketplace, also has a Russian version offering a wide variety of products at attractive prices. It provides local availability with fast delivery from Russian sellers, while also allowing sellers to target international markets. The platform offers access to a global audience and a wide range of affordable products.

9. Berito

Berito is an online store with a 12% commission on sales and a convenient process for adding products to the site. However, it faces drawbacks such as low sales and a difficult selection process for sellers. It is recommended only as an additional sales channel, as many users report minimal or no sales at all. The option to create a product showcase is appealing, but its effectiveness is limited due to the site's small audience.

10. Natali

Natali is one of Russia's biggest online marketplaces for clothing and household items. It serves customers in Russia and nearby countries. The platform is very business-friendly - it doesn't charge any fees to sellers, offers free storage and shipping, and helps about 500 customers make purchases every day. Around 50,000 people visit the site daily.

Conclusion

Opening an online store in Russia in 2025 is an exciting opportunity to tap into the booming e-commerce market. The process is simple—choose your products, select a popular marketplace, and utilize tools like AdsPower to streamline store management. Ready to start your own online store? The time to begin is now!