Fashion & Shopping
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Russian E-Commerce Giant Wildberries Expands to Baltics

Holly B. Martin

A Wildberries pick-up point in Russia. Wildberries.

Russia’s online mass market fashion leader has launched in three Baltic states, adding Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to its rapidly growing roster of international markets. It is now present in 16 countries outside its home market.

Though it faced challenges in Ukraine this summer, Wildberries’ aggressive expansion plan has seen it reach as far westward as Germany in Europe and penetrate markets such as Israel and the US. The strategy is key for the company as it fends off advances from would-be competitors such as search giant Yandex, who set up a $1 billion e-commerce venture with state owned Sberbank, Mail.ru which has a partnership with China’s Alibaba, and Ozon.

Orders in the Baltic region will be delivered by international logistics operators to 270 partner pickup points in Estonia, 210 in Latvia and 300 in Lithuania, as well as by courier delivery in

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Fashion & Shopping
Read Time : 1 Minutes

Does Chanel’s Stance on E-Commerce Make Sense? | This Week in Fashion, BoF Professional

Holly B. Martin

The pandemic hit fashion’s biggest luxury players hard. But it hit Chanel worst of all, according to figures released by the French luxury giant this week.

The company’s sales sagged 18 percent last year, slightly under-performing LVMH and Kering and significantly lagging accessories powerhouse Hermès. It’s the first time the privately held Chanel has failed to record double-digit growth since it started publishing financial results four years ago. Operating profit plummeted 41 percent.

Like its luxury rivals, the company suffered as stores closed in key markets and normally high-spending international tourists were grounded. Chanel was particularly vulnerable because a comparatively large proportion of its business is driven by sales of cosmetics and perfume that were hard hit by the decline in travel retail.

But the company faced another handicap: unlike brands such as Dior, Louis Vuitton and Gucci, Chanel doesn’t sell its core fashion and accessories products online, so when

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