How is Ozon different from other marketplaces?

Ozon is purely targeted at Russian customers. Amazon hasn’t created a marketplace specifically for Russia yet, and although shopping from Amazon.com is common, Ozon has become one of the favourite marketplaces for Russian customers, with a minimum of 3.5 million daily users, and Ozon is frequently referred to as Russia’s equivalent of Amazon.

Selling in Russia through Ozon can be more affordable than in other countries, since items that are less than €200 and that weigh less than 31kg are duty free, and there is no VAT to be charged on cross-border orders to Russia. In addition, commission on Ozon is clear, with rates between 5% and 15%.

Why Dropship with Ozon?

Ozon is one of the oldest online marketplaces in Russia, and as such it enjoys incredible brand awareness. Customers head to Ozon to shop for millions of products across multiple categories. Russian customers want electronics, clothing and accessories, as well as cosmetics and care products – and with the right products, there are plenty of opportunities to make sales on Ozon. That means that reaching customers in Russia is a potentially lucrative way to increase sales. Ozon has a significant market share in Russia, and customers trust the marketplace for buying online.

Pros and Cons of DropShipping on Ozon

Ozon welcomes overseas retailers to the marketplace, and there is an English speaking support and onboarding team, as well as the platform interface being in English. You might assume that the biggest challenge when selling to customers in Russia is the language barrier – but the team at Ozon have built the platform to translate listing information into Russian automatically.

The Ozon team are supportive, offering assistance with creating content and choosing the best delivery options. There are also plenty of paid promotion options such as banners, popups, and bundles to help you to attract more customers to your listings. Registration is quick, taking just a couple of days to have your seller account confirmed.

Not only that, getting goods to customers in Russia can be an issue to be addressed – shipping times from other countries may mean that customers choose to buy from other sellers, although if your products are desirable then customers will still buy. You’ll have up to 40 days to deliver orders, but by DropShipping from local suppliers that can have products delivered faster, there are more chances of making sales in Russia.

Another challenge to face is payments. Although PayPal has been in the country since 2013, customers in Russia have been slow to warm to online payments, with cash on delivery still the preferred payment method. There are ways to accommodate this of course, but it is a challenge to know about before you start selling. You’ll also need to be prepared to receive payments from Ozon in US dollars or Euros, and you’ll only receive payments once a month, and after the order has been marked as delivered.