Safeguarding Storage: Wildberries’ Move to Kazakhstan

On August 4, Kazakhstani Minister for Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev announced Wildberries' plans to expand its warehouse capacity in Kazakhstan. The company aims to build 260,000 square meters of storage, distributed between Astana and Almaty, which will more than triple its current 46,000 square meters of leased warehouse space.

This expansion follows a tumultuous July, marked by over 20 attacks on Wildberries' logistical hubs in Russia, causing losses of more than $3.2 million for Kazakh sellers on the platform.

However, despite claims of relocation, these warehouses in Kazakhstan will only be operational by 2027 and will not make up for the vast 1 million square meters lost in recent months. This news emerged just days after a Russian newspaper reported that Wildberries was seeking an additional 100,000 square meters of storage, a demand that aligns with the company's ongoing strategy to build more warehouses in Kazakhstan.

Wildberries' market share in Kazakhstan has grown to nearly 27 percent, making it the second-largest e-commerce platform after the locally founded Kaspi, which controls almost two-thirds of the market. Due to the recent attacks on Wildberries hubs in Russia, Shakkaliyev urged Kazakh citizens to favor local e-commerce platforms like Kaspi for both selling and purchasing goods, emphasizing economic patriotism and the importance of supporting domestic marketplaces.

These developments signal a potential challenge to Wildberries' role in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, as competitors in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan explore alternatives to Wildberries, citing financial interests and the need to protect their inventory. For Wildberries, the construction of new warehouses in Kazakhstan and neighboring Uzbekistan could safeguard portions of its inventory and mitigate losses, similar to the protective measures taken by its competitor, OZON, which relocated expensive goods from more accessible logistical hubs.

Ultimately, the fate of Wildberries in Central Asia will depend on the nature of the goods stored in these new warehouses and the company's overall financial situation at the time of their completion.