“We will start with US players, then progressively include European and Chinese online retailers,” Meshcheryakov said.
Functioning as a marketplace, Sendmebox will display all these offers on one and the same Russian-language interface, with price comparison features, advanced search functions and “genuine user reviews,” according to Meshcheryakov.
“Our site can be described as a kind of Yandex Market for international shopping,” he added, referring to Russia’s leading online marketplace.
After choosing their product, customers will complete their purchase on the partnering foreign website.
Most existing cross-border operators, from BayRu to Ebaytoday to Shipito, partner with a more limited number of retailers – in particular, Amazon.com, eBay and Taobao.com and other leading sites – but provide their customers with a more integrated service offer, from adapted payment methods to parcel forwarding, delivery and insurance.
Meshcheryakov does not rule out deepening Sendmebox’s service offer in the future.
Meshcheryakov and his colleagues Andrey Kabakov and Anton Koshevoi are the powers behind Newmans.ru. Since its inception in 2009, this Rostov-based online retailer, which initially focused on computers and notebooks, has grown into a nationwide site with a diversified assortment of products. Last year the company generated several dozens of million dollars in revenues.
Although it is taking advantage of Newmans.ru’s experience, Sendmebox stands as an independent company.
First published in East-West Digital News (EWDN.COM), a leading English-language resource dedicated to Russian digital industries.