Ozon reports record 93% growth in 2019 to RUB 80.7 bn
Moscow, 25 February 2020 – Ozon, the largest multi-category online platform on the Russian e-commerce market, has released its operational results for 2019. Sales turnover (indicated by gross merchandise value, or GMV, excluding returns) increased by 93% to RUB 80.7 billion with VAT.
The number of order deliveries increased by 2.1 times to 32.3 million, with a total volume of more than 144 million products. A growing number of Russian consumers are moving from offline to online shopping and combining items from multiple product categories within a single order – from books and electronics to groceries and adult goods.
Growth has accelerated in part due to an increase in purchase frequency and upward average check dynamics, which are tied to the expansion of the assortment on Ozon as well as the launch of special services for its customers. For example, around 6.2 million orders – or approximately 20% of the overall delivery volume for 2019 – were placed by Ozon Premium users. The average check for these users is several times greater than that of non-Premium users, and their orders typically include 6-7 items. Meanwhile, Ozon.Card holders place an average of four or more orders per month, which is a high indicator of customer loyalty even by the standards of Western e-commerce players.
The move of offline shoppers to online has required that online platforms significantly expand their assortment. Ozon considers this to be a key factor for growth. By the end of 2019, its assortment grew more than threefold and exceeded 5 million SKUs. Marketplace sellers now account for more than 70% of the assortment on Ozon: at least 6,500 small businesses and entrepreneurs were actively selling their products on the platform by the end of 2019, while another 15,000 were in the process of onboarding.
At the same time, an expanded assortment requires the development of logistics capabilities, including both warehouse and last-mile infrastructure. Ozon more than doubled the area of its fulfilment centres to 200 ths sqm in 2019. In order to boost growth in the Russian regions, where e-commerce currently accounts for only 2-3% of overall retail sales, the development of delivery infrastructure is a top priority. Ozon’s delivery chain, including parcel lockers and pick-up points operated by the Company and its partners, grew by a factor of 3 during the course of the year and amounted to 16,651 unique locations.* In 2019, Ozon became the largest parcel locker chain in Russia with 6,897 automatic delivery pick-up points* —a delivery channel that already accounts for 23% of Ozon’s total deliveries. In late 2019 the Company launched a logistics marketplace, which assists Ozon partners with developing their pick-up points, setting up new parcel lockers and improving their courier services.
Ozon CEO Alexander Shulgin noted:
“The future of e-commerce lies with large multi-category platforms that connect millions of customers and tens of thousands of businesses across the country. Our goal for 2020 is to transform Ozon into a full-fledged online platform while maintaining our current growth rates, in order to bring e-commerce closer to residents of small towns, where the product selection and price range are limited. To achieve this, we will continue to develop our logistics and financial products and expand our assortment. Since our clients include not only our customers but the partners we work with – particularly small and medium enterprises across the country, who will number in the tens of thousands in 2020 – Ozon considers it a key priority to develop convenient and easy-to-use instruments for their growth. These include our marketplace and advertising platforms, analytics instruments, and special financing programs through Ozon.Invest.”
*as of January 2020.
