Cross-border sales operator ViPoint.ru has announced a partnership with Kupivkredit, a subsidiary of the Tinkoff Credit Systems bank, that will allow its Russian customers to purchase goods from US online retailers on credit. Credit amounts will range from 3,000 rubles (a little less than $100) to 200,000 rubles ($6,000).
This initiative is presented as the first of its kind but probably will not be the last. East-West Digital News has already found out from another cross-border site that it is currently in discussions with Tinkoff to provide the same system.
Launched in September 2012, ViPoint presents itself as an online marketplace with a high level of service that offers online shoppers from Russia, Belorussia and Kazakhstan easy access to 200 million products of all kinds. From car parts to consumer electronics, to fashion items and collectibles, many of these goods come from the catalogs of eBay and Amazon.
The site spares its customers the problems generally associated with international online purchases, from linguistic issues to customs clearance to unpredictable delivery time and even offers insurance.
Among ViPoint’s competitors are BayRu, Ebaytoday.ru and iMall.eu for goods from the USA and Europe and Averstore.com, Rutaobao.ru or Tao.ru for products from Chinese online retailers. Another site, Mangomag.ru, positions itself as a middleman for purchases from both US and Chinese sites.
The market of cross-border sales to Russia could near $3 billion this year, almost doubling from 2012, according to a soon-to-be-released study by East-West Digital News. Russian consumers appreciate foreign retailers’ diversified assortment and have enjoyed so far virtually tax-free purchases. But frequent slowdowns at customs checkpoints and the Russian postal service’s lack of efficient service have also created serious issues, as illustrated by the congestion of Moscow’s airports this past spring.
- Foreign online retailers selling to Russian consumers or considering doing so are invited to take part in EWDN’s survey on this topic, in partnership with Ecommerce-facts.com and the E-Commerce Europe association. Participants will receive a free executive summary that includes the main findings of EWDN’s final report on cross-border sales to Russia.