Russia’s largest e-commerce operator Wildberries became the largest retailer of any sort when it overtook MasterSport in 2019 and took Russia into a new age of e-commerce, making its founder Tatiana Kim (nee Bakalchuk) the richest woman in the country.

After years of explosive growth, the Russian e-commerce growth is now slowing. The combined share of Russia's two largest online marketplaces, Wildberries and Ozon, will reach 77% of the country's e-commerce market by the end of 2026, with growth markedly slower than in the previous year as the market starts to become saturated.

Wildberries will hold 45% of the market and Ozon 32% by year-end, the analysts said. The combined share is set to grow by 5 percentage points on the year, less than half the 11-point gain recorded in 2025, Kommersant reported on April 27, citing analysis by consultancy Euler.

Running out of growing room in her home market, Kim began expanding abroad but previous plans to expand in the European markets were stymied by sanctions following the start of the war in Ukraine. Looking for new markets, Wildberries has refocused on fast growing Uzbekistan, the largest consumer market in the region with a population of 37mn.

“Wildberries launched in Uzbekistan in 2022. Since then we've expanded our business steadily and invested across several areas. In infrastructure, for example, we've invested in building a logistics centre — one of the biggest in the region — with an investment of roughly $200mn and a capacity of around 7,500 [SKUs],” Akmal Primkulov, Wildberries Uzbek country manager told IntelliNews in an exclusive interview during the Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF).

The Uzbek market is now at the explosive growth stage of e-commerce growth that Russia was at more than a decade ago. And with 7.7% GDP growth last year, incomes are rising and a middle class is emerging.

For centuries Uzbeks have gone to the bazaar once a month to do the bulk of their shopping, but the combination of the coronavirus pandemic and the rapid roll out of smartphones – the country has had 100% mobile data coverage for several years now -- there's been a change of mentality, moving from traditional shopping to online.

“E-commerce penetration here is around 5.5%, compared with about 14% in Kazakhstan and more than 18% in Russia. So, there's a lot of room to grow. We're effectively teaching people to shop online — saving them time, so instead of going to the bazaar they can buy in a couple of minutes,” says Primkulov. “It's partly generational, but the whole market is shifting. Average annual growth is around 40%. The market was about $1.8bn, and with about 40% growth it should pass $2.5bn this year.”

The rapid growth is facilitated by the roll out of supporting infrastructure and the company has been investing into warehousing and logistics. Wildberries currently operates 5.6mn square metres of warehouses in total and is building more in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Belarus. In Uzbekistan, warehouse space is still rented, but after the first company owned and run warehouse was built in Belarus, now there are plans to construct Wildberries own warehouses in Kazakhstan this year and Uzbekistan next year.

Getting the goods to customers quickly is the key to customer retention and while Uzbekistan is a large country, the urban population is relatively concentrated in several large towns; Tashkent and Samarkand have 3.5mn and 4mn residents respectively, but if the unofficial residents are included they are even bigger. However, Wildberries distribution system already serves most of the country and can deliver an order within one to two days almost anywhere.

“Someone in a smaller town can now buy the same things as someone in Tashkent. Smartphone coverage is essentially complete, and we have more than 140 pickup points, so we're well connected across the country,” says Primkulov.

Primkulov is excited about the Uzbek market. The country is enjoying a demographic boom with an average age of only 28 years old, unlike almost everywhere else that is in the midst of a demographic crisis. Growth is strong. Incomes are rising. And Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is pushing ahead with a root and branch reform of the economy.

“It's an evolution. You grow the marketplace step by step, and the logical next step is fintech — banking and related services — then other areas. It's a natural progression,” says Primkulov. “From the supply side, the market is fairly well covered. But from the customer's point of view it's still expanding — getting bigger as people get used to the convenience and the time savings. There is a lot of upside still. Compared with the rest of the world, this is one of the most attractive e-commerce markets.”