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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | E-commerce,technology,retail |
| Founded | 1998; 28 years ago (1998) |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Russia,Belarus,Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan,Azerbaijan, Georgia,Kyrgyzstan, andArmenia |
| Revenue |
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| |
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| Total assets |
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Number of employees | 45,854 (2021) |
| Website | corp |
Ozon Holdings PLC is one of the firste-commerce companies inRussia, sometimes referred to as "theAmazon of Russia".[2][3][4] Established in 1998 as an online bookstore, Ozon was one of the three biggestonline retail platforms in the country by 2019.[5] It was named as the #3 most valuable Russian internet company of 2020 byForbes.[6]
Ozon is part of Ozon Group, which also owns the online travel booking platform Ozon. Travel and a stake in Russia's largest digital bookstore Litres.[7][8] The currentchief executive officer of Ozon is Alexander Shulgin, who joined the company after serving aschief financial officer and laterchief operating officer ofYandex.[9][10]
In October 2020 it was reported that Ozon plans to hold anIPO in the United States that could value the company at $3-5 billion.[11] In November 2020, Ozon went public on theNasdaq in an IPO that valued the company at $6.2 billion.[12] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Nasdaq suspended trading in the company's securities and then announced its intention to delist. Ozon unsuccessfully appealed twice, and in October 2023 announced a voluntary delisting.[13]
Ozon.ru was established in 1998 as an online bookseller by the Russian software houseReksoft. The company soon expanded its assortment to CDs and DVDs before going on to sell a wide range of goods from clothing to electronics.[14] In 2012, it acquired the shoe seller Sapato.ru and sold it in 2015 to the online fashion retailer KupiVIP.[15] In 2014, it acquired a stake in Litres, a major Russia's e-book marketplace.[16]
After a series of Russian chief executive officers, in 2005 Ozon appointed Bernard Lukey, who had advised the company on behalf ofBaring Vostok.[17] In 2011Maelle Gavet became the new chief executive officer of Ozon.[18][19] During her tenure, the firm worked to popularize e-commerce in the mainly cash-based Russian retail market.[20][21] Gavet stepped down as chief executive officer in 2015; her deputy Danny Perekalsky was appointed successor.[22] Since 2017 the chief executive officer of has been Alexander Shulgin, the formerchief financial officer andchief operating officer of the Russian tech companyYandex.[23][24] In April 2022, Mr. Shulgin bowed out as CEO and member of the board of directors of Ozon due tointernational sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War.[25]
In 1999, ru-Net Holdings, founded byLeonid Boguslavsky along with the WesternBaring Vostok Group, UFG and Rex Capital, purchased acontrolling stake in the company for $3 million.[26] In 2000,Baring Vostok became a controlling shareholder after investing $3 million into the company. In 2007, Ozon raised $18 million in a funding round led by the Geneva-basedIndex Ventures.[27] In 2011, Ozon attracted $100 million in investment from Japanese e-commerce companyRakuten, Boguslavsky's ru-Net and others,[28][29] followed by another $150 million funding deal with the Russian conglomerateSistema and the Russian mobile operatorMTS in 2014.[30][31] MTS and Baring Vostok invested another $92 million into Ozon in 2018.[32] In 2019, Boguslavsky sold his share in Ozon to the company's main shareholders, Baring Vostok and Sistema, for $70 million.[33]
In 2019 Ozon secured a $150 million round of financing with the participation of U.S.venture capital firm Princeville Capital, in what was reported to be one of the largest Russian tech investment deals involving Western backers since 2014.[34][35]
Ozon reported a "hypergrowth" stage in 2019 as sales for the year increased by 93% to $1.1 billion and the volume of orders more than doubled to 32.2 million.[36] Company turnover by gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew 188% year on year in the second quarter of 2020 and reached RUB 77.4 billion by H12020, an increase of 152% from the same period in the previous year. According to Daniil Fedorov, Ozon's chief financial officer at the time, thecoronavirus pandemic created a new habit of shopping online among Russian consumers.[37] In 2024, revenue amounted to 615.7 billion rubles (an increase of 45%), gross profit – 99.9 billion rubles.[38]
On August 3, 2022, a large fire destroyed approx 50,000SQM of warehouse (Approx 1/3rd of the building) including the contents of the building the external walls and roof. At least one person died and 13 were injured in the fire. The emergencies ministry initially said the fire had spread to an area of 35,000 square metres but later revised this to approx 50,000SQM. A fire-pumping station, an Mi-8 helicopter, two Ka-32 helicopters, 150 firefighters and 40 other pieces of equipment were deployed to the scene, it said.[39][40]
Ozon offers more than 9 million products across more than 20 product categories including clothing, groceries, home goods and electronics.[41] After a large increase in the available assortment, the volume of orders more than doubled in 2019 to 32.2 million.[42]
In early 2019, the company launched a service called Ozon.Invest that grants loans to small and medium-sized businesses that sell their products on the Ozon marketplace.[43] Ozon was also the first online retailer in Russia to launch consumer loans for multi-category online purchases, as well as its own debit card with a cashback feature.[44][45]
Ozon has been operating a marketplace platform for third-party sellers since 2018.[46] In June 2020, the marketplace had more than 13,000 sellers who accounted for more than 85% of the assortment on the site.[47]
In November 2021 “Ozon” announced the opening of pilot pickup mini-points, at least 15 square meters each, in small Russian towns from the beginning of 2022.[48]
In August 2022, Ozon announced the launch of an ad service for the sale of goods from individuals. The pilot region was the Rostov region.[49]
Ozon developed its own fulfillment infrastructure to deliver orders in Russia's 11time zones. In 2018 the company had sevenfulfillment centers in theMoscow region as well asSt. Petersburg,Tver,Kazan,Ekaterinburg,Rostov-On-Don andNovosibirsk.[50] It more than doubled its fulfilment capacity in 2019 to almost 200,000 sqm, as well as investing in its last-mile delivery infrastructure.[51]
The company operates its own delivery logistics platform and has a network of over 16,000 pickup points, including automated parcel lockers across Russia, .[52][53] The use of brick-and-mortar pickup points where customers can pick up their orders arose out of a lack of reliable third-party delivery services in many parts of Russia.[54] In 2019, Ozon launched an express grocery delivery service in Moscow,[55] and rolled out its contactless home delivery service, which became a popular option during thecoronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020.[56]
In March 2020, Ozon announced plans to spend more than $300 million to expand its logistics in advance of a potentialIPO.[57]
In October 2021, “Ozon Express” brand launched in Moscow inhouse ready-to-serve food production with one hour delivery with up to 30 dishes by the end of 2021. “Ozon Express” culinary production is expected to be available in other regions of Russia.[58]
In December 2021, "Ozon" announced to be ready to launch by the end of the year 2021 the 15-minutes delivery of groceries and pre-prepared food in 30 districts of Moscow by virtue of company`s darkstores.[59]
Ozon reported record sales growth during thecoronavirus pandemic, as quarantine measures in Russia drove more people to shop online.[60][61] During the crisis, the company capped prices on the most sought-after goods to preventprice gouging by marketplace sellers and expanded its contactless home delivery service to limit the spread of infection.[62] In July 2020, Ozon and four other Russian retailers commissioned a monument to delivery workers who continued to work during lockdown in Moscow.[63][64]
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