Ozon (company)

Last updated
Ozon.ru
Type Public company
Nasdaq:  OZON
Industry E-commerce, technology, retail
Founded1998;25 years ago (1998)
Headquarters
Moscow
,
Russia
Area served
Russia
Revenue
  • Increase2.svg RUB 277,115,000,000
[1]  (2022)
  • Decrease2.svg RUB -58,856,000,000
 (2021)
  • Decrease2.svg RUB -58,187,000,000
[1]  (2022)
Total assets
  • Increase2.svg RUB 284,821,000,000
[1]  (2022)
Number of employees
45,854 (2021)
Website corp.ozon.com

Ozon is one of the first e-commerce companies in Russia, sometimes referred to as "the Amazon of Russia." [2] [3] [4] Established in 1998 as an online bookstore, Ozon was one of the three biggest online retail platforms in the country by 2019. [5] It was named as the #3 most valuable Russian internet company of 2020 by Forbes. [6]

Contents

Ozon is part of Ozon Group, which also owns the online travel booking platform Ozon. Travel and a stake in Russia's largest digital bookstore Litres. [7] [8] The current chief executive officer of Ozon is Alexander Shulgin, who joined the company after serving as chief financial officer and later chief operating officer of Yandex. [9] [10]

In October 2020 it was reported that Ozon plans to hold an IPO in the United States that could value the company at $3-5 billion. [11] In November 2020, Ozon went public on the Nasdaq in an IPO that valued the company at $6.2 billion. [12] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Nasdaq suspended trading in the company's securities and then announced its intention to delist. Ozon unsuccessfully appealed twice, and in October 2023 announced a voluntary delisting. [13]

History

Ozon.ru was established in 1998 as an online bookseller by the Russian software house Reksoft. The company soon expanded its assortment to CDs and DVDs before going on to sell a wide range of goods from clothing to electronics. [14] In 2012, it acquired the shoe seller Sapato.ru and sold it in 2015 to the online fashion retailer KupiVIP. [15] In 2014, it acquired a stake in Litres, a major Russia's e-book marketplace. [16]

Leadership

After a series of Russian chief executive officers, in 2005 Ozon appointed Bernard Lukey, who had advised the company on behalf of Baring Vostok. [17] In 2011 Maelle Gavet became the new chief executive officer of Ozon. [18] [19] During her tenure, the firm worked to popularize e-commerce in the mainly cash-based Russian retail market. [20] [21] Gavet stepped down as chief executive officer in 2015; her deputy Danny Perekalsky was appointed successor. [22] Since 2017 the chief executive officer of has been Alexander Shulgin, the former chief financial officer and chief operating officer of the Russian tech company Yandex. [23] [24] In April 2022, Mr. Shulgin bowed out as CEO and member of the board of directors of Ozon due to international sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War. [25]

Funding

In 1999, ru-Net Holdings, founded by Leonid Boguslavsky along with the Western Baring Vostok Group, UFG and Rex Capital, purchased a controlling stake in the company for $3 million. [26] In 2000, Baring Vostok became a controlling shareholder after investing $3 million into the company. In 2007, Ozon raised $18 million in a funding round led by the Geneva-based Index Ventures. [27] In 2011, Ozon attracted $100 million in investment from Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, Boguslavsky's ru-Net and others, [28] [29] followed by another $150 million funding deal with the Russian conglomerate Sistema and the Russian mobile operator MTS in 2014. [30] [31] MTS and Baring Vostok invested another $92 million into Ozon in 2018. [32] In 2019, Boguslavsky sold his share in Ozon to the company's main shareholders, Baring Vostok and Sistema, for $70 million. [33]

In 2019 Ozon secured a $150 million round of financing with the participation of U.S. venture capital firm Princeville Capital, in what was reported to be one of the largest Russian tech investment deals involving Western backers since 2014. [34] [35]

Financial performance

Ozon reported a "hypergrowth" stage in 2019 as sales for the year increased by 93% to $1.1 billion and the volume of orders more than doubled to 32.2 million. [36] Company turnover by gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew 188% year on year in the second quarter of 2020 and reached RUB 77.4 billion by H12020, an increase of 152% from the same period in the previous year. According to Daniil Fedorov, Ozon's chief financial officer at the time, the coronavirus pandemic created a new habit of shopping online among Russian consumers. [37]

2022 fire at the Istra (Moscow) fulfilment centre

On August 3, 2022, a large fire destroyed approx 50,000SQM of warehouse (Approx 1/3rd of the building) including the contents of the building the external walls and roof. At least one person died and 13 were injured in the fire. The emergencies ministry initially said the fire had spread to an area of 35,000 square metres but later revised this to approx 50,000SQM. A fire-pumping station, an Mi-8 helicopter, two Ka-32 helicopters, 150 firefighters and 40 other pieces of equipment were deployed to the scene, it said. [38] [39]

Products and services

Ozon offers more than 9 million products across more than 20 product categories including clothing, groceries, home goods and electronics. [40] After a large increase in the available assortment, the volume of orders more than doubled in 2019 to 32.2 million. [41]

In early 2019, the company launched a service called Ozon.Invest that grants loans to small and medium-sized businesses that sell their products on the Ozon marketplace. [42] Ozon was also the first online retailer in Russia to launch consumer loans for multi-category online purchases, as well as its own debit card with a cashback feature. [43] [44]

Ozon has been operating a marketplace platform for third-party sellers since 2018. [45] In June 2020, the marketplace had more than 13,000 sellers who accounted for more than 85% of the assortment on the site. [46]

In November 2021 “Ozon” announced the opening of pilot pickup mini-points, at least 15 square meters each, in small Russian towns from the beginning of 2022. [47]

In August 2022, Ozon announced the launch of an ad service for the sale of goods from individuals. The pilot region was the Rostov region. [48]

Supply chain and delivery

Ozon developed its own fulfillment infrastructure to deliver orders in Russia's 11 time zones. In 2018 the company had seven fulfillment centers in the Moscow region as well as St. Petersburg, Tver, Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Rostov-On-Don and Novosibirsk. [49] It more than doubled its fulfilment capacity in 2019 to almost 200,000 sqm, as well as investing in its last-mile delivery infrastructure. [50]

The company operates its own delivery logistics platform and has a network of over 16,000 pickup points, including automated parcel lockers across Russia, . [51] [52] The use of brick-and-mortar pickup points where customers can pick up their orders arose out of a lack of reliable third-party delivery services in many parts of Russia. [53] In 2019, Ozon launched an express grocery delivery service in Moscow, [54] and rolled out its contactless home delivery service, which became a popular option during the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020. [55]

In March 2020, Ozon announced plans to spend more than $300 million to expand its logistics in advance of a potential IPO. [56]

In October 2021, “Ozon Express” brand launched in Moscow inhouse ready-to-serve food production with one hour delivery with up to 30 dishes by the end of 2021. “Ozon Express” culinary production is expected to be available in other regions of Russia. [57]

In December 2021, "Ozon" announced to be ready to launch by the end of the year 2021 the 15-minutes delivery of groceries and pre-prepared food in 30 districts of Moscow by virtue of company`s darkstores. [58]

COVID-19 pandemic

Ozon reported record sales growth during the coronavirus pandemic, as quarantine measures in Russia drove more people to shop online. [59] [60] During the crisis, the company capped prices on the most sought-after goods to prevent price gouging by marketplace sellers and expanded its contactless home delivery service to limit the spread of infection. [61] In July 2020, Ozon and four other Russian retailers commissioned a monument to delivery workers who continued to work during lockdown in Moscow. [62] [63]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Yevtushenkov</span> Russian billionaire business oligarch (born 1948)

Vladimir Petrovich Yevtushenkov is a Russian billionaire business oligarch. He is the majority owner (49.2%) and former сhairman of Sistema. As a member of the Russian-Saudi Economic Council and as chairman since 2002 of both the Russian side of the Russian-Saudi and Russian-Arab Business Councils which are part of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), he maintains very close ties to both Saudi Arabia and the Arab world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yandex</span> Russian multinational technology company

Yandex LLC is a Russian multinational technology company providing Internet-related products and services, including an Internet search engine called Yandex Search, launched in 1997, information services, e-commerce, transportation, maps and navigation, mobile applications, and online advertising. Yandex Holding Company was incorporated in 2000. As of 2016, it primarily served audiences in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Turkey, and countries with significant Russian-speaking population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian Post</span> Russian national postal operator

Interfax is a Russian news agency. The agency is owned by Interfax News Agency joint-stock company and is headquartered in Moscow.

Mechel is one of Russia's mining and metals companies, comprising producers of coal, iron ore in concentrate, steel, rolled steel products. Headquartered in Moscow, it sells its products in Russia and overseas, and is formally known as Public Joint Stock Company Mechel.

PJSC Polyus is a Russian gold mining company. It is the largest gold producer in Russia and one of the top 10 gold mining companies globally by output. It is headquartered in Moscow and is listed on both the Moscow and London Stock Exchanges. Polyus’ main assets are located in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East - in the regions of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, Magadan Oblast and the Republic of Sakha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sistema</span> Russian conglomerate company

AFK Sistema PAO is a large Russian conglomerate company, founded by Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who was chairman of the corporation's board of directors until 2022. In April, Yevtushenkov's shareholding in Sistema has decreased to 49.2%, and he also stepped down from Sistema's board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reksoft</span>

Reksoft is an offshore software engineering company specialising in software development and system integration services, specifically software product engineering, enterprise application services and dedicated centres. Reksoft has passed certification audit ISO 9001:2008, and is assessed to comply with CMMi Level 5. The company is based in St. Petersburg, Russia, and has regional offices in Stockholm, Sweden, and development centres in Moscow and Voronezh, Russia.

The Russia Forum was an annual event held in Moscow, hosted by Troika Dialog from 2008 to 2013. From 2012, The Russia Forum was jointly presented by Sberbank of Russia and Troika Dialog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baring Vostok Capital Partners</span>

Baring Vostok Capital Partners is the largest independent private equity firm focused on investments in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Baring Vostok Private Equity Funds invest across a broad range of industries including oil and gas, consumer products, media and technology, telecommunications and financial services.

X5 Group is Russia's largest food retailer. In 2012, the organization of X5-Retail Group LLC was liquidated, and in 2018 X5 Group LLC was opened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tele2 Russia</span>

Tele2 Russia is a Russian telecommunications company originally founded by Swedish Tele2. It has been operating since 2003. Since 2020, Tele2 Russia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rostelecom. At year-end 2019, Tele2 Russia provides wireless services to more than 44.6 million subscribers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maëlle Gavet</span>

Maëlle Gavet is a French businesswoman, author, and entrepreneur.

Cherkizovo is a Moscow-based Russian food company that is a major producer and processor of poultry and pork.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qiwi</span> Russian electronic payment service

QIWI plc is a Russian company that provides payment and financial services in Russia and CIS countries. The group includes QIWI payment system, QIWI Bank, CONTACT money transfer system, Factoring PLUS, Flocktory, and RealWeb. The company has representative offices in three countries.

Doc+ is a Russian medical company that provides services in the field of telemedicine, requesting a house call by a doctor, storing and processing personal medical data. It was launched in September 2015. It works in Moscow, Moscow region, and St. Petersburg.

Wildberries is the largest Russian online retailer founded in 2004 by Tatyana Bakalchuk. Besides Russia, since 2023 they have services in 5 other countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, with more than 48,000 employees. In 2023, the first office was opened in Azerbaijan. Until 2022, they previously had services in France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United States, and Ukraine. Wildberries sells 37,000 brands of clothing, shoes, cosmetics, household products, children goods, electronics, books, jewelry, food and much more. The company processes 750,000 orders on average a day online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonid Boguslavsky</span> Canadian entrepreneur

Leonid Boguslavsky is a USSR-born Canadian entrepreneur, scientist and venture capital investor. He was named the Internet investor of the year and the most successful investor of the year. He is the founder of RTP Global, a venture capital firm with offices in New York, London, Paris, Bangalore and Dubai. He was one of the first investors in companies such as Datadog or Delivery Hero. Boguslavsky is in Forbes' billionaires list. His wealth is self-made from venture capital investments with more than 99% created outside of Russia. He is widely considered one of the most successful technology investors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yandex self-driving car</span> Robotaxi project

Yandex self-driving car is an autonomous car project of the Russian-based technology company Yandex. The first driverless prototype launched in May 2017. As of 2018, functional service was launched in Russia with prototypes also being tested in Israel and the United States. In 2019, Yandex revealed autonomous delivery robots based on the same technology stack as the company's self-driving cars. Since 2020, autonomous robots have been delivering food, groceries and parcels in Russia and the United States. In 2020, the self-driving project was spun-off into a standalone company under the name of Yandex Self-Driving Group.

Samokat is a Russian dark store rapid delivery service for food and household goods. Founded in 2017, it was the first dark store operator in the country. By 2022, Samokat owned around 1,100 dark stores in 49 cities and handled 35% of dark store deliveries Russia-wide.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ozon Reports Unaudited Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  2. ↑ "The Amazon of Russia Is Building Its Own UPS—While Battling the Black Market". Wired. 2014-05-30. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  3. ↑ "Ozon: Russia's Answer To Amazon Prepares For Clouds, Won't Tackle 'Kindle' Soon, Says CEO". TechCrunch. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 2020-09-04.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ "Sistema Interested in Buying Ozon Stake". Wall Street Journal. 2013-11-26. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  5. ↑ Aris, Ben (2019-09-10). "Ozon Battling It Out for E-Commerce Supremacy in Russia". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  6. ↑ "30 самых дорогих компаний Рунета. Рейтинг Forbes". Forbes.ru (in Russian). 24 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  7. ↑ "Ozon acquires stake in LitRes, the leading Russian e-book store". East-West Digital News. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  8. ↑ Henni, Adrien (2019-05-09). "Russian online retailer Ozon plans a tenfold logistic expansion after record growth". Digital Commerce 360. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  9. ↑ "Alexander Shulgin, Internet Solutions OOO: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  10. ↑ "Yandex appoints CFO Shulgin in charge of Russian business". TASS. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  11. ↑ Kantchev, Georgi (2020-10-01). "Russian Online Retailer Ozon Group Prepares American IPO". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  12. ↑ "Russia Online Retailer Ozon Raises $990 Million in U.S. IPO". Bloomberg.com. 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  13. ↑ "Ozon приступил к добровольному делистингу с американской биржи NASDAQ". RBC (in Russian). 2023-10-20.
  14. ↑ "Russian e-commerce major Ozon secures $150 million from local and US investors". East-West Digital News. 2020-03-31. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  15. ↑ "Russia's Ozon.ru Is Selling Its Zappos Clone Sapato.ru To KupiVIP". Tech Crunch. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  16. ↑ "Ozon acquires stake in LitRes, the leading Russian e-book store". East-West Digital News. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  17. ↑ Chafkin, Max (2012-08-08). "Is This The Jeff Bezos Of Russia?". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  18. ↑ News, East-West Digital (2012-05-08). "Ozon CEO Maëlle Gavet: "We have internalized most of the delivery process to make it more cost-friendly and efficient"" . Retrieved 2020-09-07.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  19. ↑ Chafkin, Max (2012-08-08). "Is This The Jeff Bezos Of Russia?". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  20. ↑ "The CEO of Ozon on Building an e-Commerce Giant in a Cash-Only Economy". Harvard Business Review. No. July–August 2014. 2014-07-01. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  21. ↑ "Q&A: Ozon Chief Changing Perceptions of Russia (Video)". The Moscow Times. 2014-01-30. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  22. ↑ "Maëlle Gavet steps down as Ozon CEO". East-West Digital News. 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  23. ↑ "Alexander Shulgin, Internet Solutions OOO: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  24. ↑ "Yandex appoints CFO Shulgin in charge of Russian business". TASS. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  25. ↑ "CEO Ozon Шульгин покинул свой пост и вышел из совета директоров" (in Russian). Интерфакс. 2022-04-12.
  26. ↑ "Миллиардер Богуславский продал долю в Ozon". Forbes.ru (in Russian). 13 September 2019. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  27. ↑ Chafkin, Max (2012-08-08). "Is This The Jeff Bezos Of Russia?". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  28. ↑ "Internet Retailer Ozon.ru Gets Record $100M Investment". The Moscow Times. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  29. ↑ "Ozon positions for Russian e-commerce boom with $100m funding". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  30. ↑ "Ozon receives giant funding from AFK Sistema and MTS". East-West Digital News. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  31. ↑ "A Q&A with Maëlle Gavet, CEO of Ozon, after raising $150 million". Tech.eu. 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  32. ↑ "Russian e-commerce appeal: Ozon shareholders to inject up to $92 million in the company". 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  33. ↑ "Инвестор выдохнул Ozon". Коммерсантъ. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  34. ↑ "Russia's Ozon Secures Largest Western E-commerce Investment Since Sanctions". The Moscow Times. 2020-04-01. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  35. ↑ "Russian E-Commerce Startup Ozon Raises $150 Million". Wall Street Journal. 2020-04-01. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  36. ↑ Marrow, Alexander (2020-03-16). "Russian retailer Ozon to spend $300 mln on logistics to boost growth". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  37. ↑ "Russia's Ozon Sees Gross Merchandise Value Surge During Second Quarter". ESM Magazine. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  38. ↑ "1 killed, 13 injured in massive warehouse fire near Moscow". Associated Press. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  39. ↑ "One person killed, 13 injured in fire at Ozon's warehouse near Moscow — center".
  40. ↑ Briggs, Fiona. "Ozon's sales of French goods jump four-fold in 2020". Retail Times. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  41. ↑ "Russian retailer Ozon to spend $300 mln on logistics to boost growth". Reuters. 2020-03-16. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  42. ↑ "Russian online retailer Ozon launches user-to-supplier loan platform". bne IntelliNews. January 15, 2019.
  43. ↑ "Ozon launches card for customers". BFC Bulletins. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  44. ↑ "OZON запустила собственную банковскую карту для клиентов". Банки.ру. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  45. ↑ "Ozon Battling It Out for E-Commerce Supremacy in Russia". The Moscow Times. 2019-09-10. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  46. ↑ Briggs, Fiona. "Russian e-commerce giant reports turnover surged 188% in Q2 amid pandemic". Retail Times. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  47. ↑ "Ozon опробует минипункты выдачи заказов в небольших городах" (in Russian). Интерфакс. 2021-11-23.
  48. ↑ "Ozon запускает сервис объявлений от частных лиц" (in Russian). TASS. 2022-08-19.
  49. ↑ "Russian online retailer Ozon plans tenfold logistic expansion after record growth". 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  50. ↑ "Sistema Increases Stake In Russian Online Retailer Ozon.ru". ESM Magazine. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  51. ↑ "Russia's Ozon online retailer launches express delivery". www.intellinews.com. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  52. ↑ "Sistema Increases Stake In Russian Online Retailer Ozon.ru". ESM Magazine. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  53. ↑ "The Amazon of Russia Is Building Its Own UPS—While Battling the Black Market". Wired. 2014-05-30. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  54. ↑ "Ozon Launches 40-Minute Grocery Delivery in Russia". www.ascentialedge.com. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  55. ↑ "How COVID-19 is shaking Russia's online and offline retail". 2020-04-08. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  56. ↑ "Russian retailer Ozon to spend $300 mln on logistics to boost growth". Reuters. 2020-03-16. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  57. ↑ "Ozon запустил собственное кулинарное производство" (in Russian). Интерфакс. 2021-10-20.
  58. ↑ "Ozon до конца года запустит доставку за 15 минут в 30 районах Москвы" (in Russian). Интерфакс. 2021-12-14.
  59. ↑ "Russia's Ozon saw 200% growth in April, CEO says". CNBC. 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  60. ↑ "Russian big three e-commerce firm Ozon sees record turnover on pandemic-fuelled online shopping surge in 2Q20". www.intellinews.com. 2020-09-03. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  61. ↑ "How COVID-19 is shaking online and offline retail in Russia". Digital Commerce 360. 2020-04-13. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  62. ↑ "Retailers erect monument to couriers who fed Moscow through lockdown". Reuters. 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  63. ↑ "Moscow Honors Delivery Workers With a Monument". The Moscow Times. 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.