Russian press reports that sporting goods retailer Sportmaster plans to open its first outlet in Uzbekistan in Tashkent, the country’s capital, citing a source in the Uzbek retail industry. This is the second time Sportmaster wants to emerge in the Uzbek market. In March 2020, the company signed three rental contracts with shopping centers in Tashkent, expecting to launch its stores in the next few months. However, the Covid-19 pandemic ruined these plans. Sportmaster has long-standing ties with some local companies, such as clothing factories, which produce outfits for its Russian stores. With a population of 35 million, Uzbekistan is believed to be the biggest sporting goods market in Central Asia. In 2021, Decathlon launched an online store in the country.
In Russia, Sportmaster reportedly plans to open “a nice marketplace” based on its online store, local news outlet E-Pepper reported. The company has started seeking a marketplace manager with experience developing the biggest Russian marketplaces, Wildberries, Ozon or Yandex.Market. Sergey Agibalov, Sportmaster business manager, told the local press that the company would not disclose any information about this project until it was up and running.
Ilya Kretov, director of the Russian consulting agency Tinkoff E-Commerce, said a growth in the number of niche marketplaces focusing on selling only some categories of goods, like sporting goods, based on online stores of big companies was a predictable trend. He added that up to 100 niche marketplaces could be launched in Russia in the foreseeable future.
The rationale behind opening the niche marketplaces is to fill the gap left on the market by the departure of Western brands, Kretov said. “The supply has plummeted, but the demand is still out there. Someone has to take care of it,” Kretov stated, adding that the success of niche stores, however, will depend on whether Russian companies could successfully establish parallel import.
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