Marketplace and Messaging: Russian E-Commerce Giant Develops Its Own Messenger
Wildberries is launching its own messaging platform. The new service is already being tested by company employees for internal communications. Over time, the team is considering bringing the IT product to the mass market so users can evaluate its capabilities and, after further development, potentially to global markets as well.
According to Wildberries founder and Wildberries&Russ (RVB) CEO Tatyana Kim, the company began developing the messenger to address communication challenges within a large organization.
The Pilot Is Being Tested in Practice
The company is currently using a pilot version of the digital product internally, but its creators ultimately hope to launch it as a commercial offering. The development of an instant messaging platform for registered users is a natural extension of the ecosystem strategy pursued by the combined Wildberries&Russ company. The project also builds on experience gained from developing an internal corporate messenger and other communication tools already used within the marketplace.
As company representatives explained, Wildberries is increasingly positioning itself as a digital ecosystem, where the customer experience extends beyond selecting and purchasing goods to include a range of related services. The company's extensive operational experience has helped shape that ecosystem. Earlier, it created tools that allow small and medium-sized businesses to enter the market without investing in their own platforms, warehouses, or logistics infrastructure.
The marketplace has built a system capable of offering products across a wide range of price points and consumer preferences, while making the ordering process straightforward and ensuring deliveries arrive quickly at convenient pickup locations.
On the Road to an Ecosystem
Wildberries has evolved into an ecosystem that combines e-commerce, logistics, fintech, and media services. Following its merger with Russ, the company has set its sights on becoming a multi-layered platform. To achieve that goal, it is expanding its advertising business, launching proprietary fintech products, and automating warehouse operations. Wildberries is also developing the Wibes video-shopping platform. That service already includes a messenger, although it currently lacks support for group chats.
As Wildberries&Russ CEO Tatyana Kim explained, when the company eventually enters the market with its own standalone messenger, it intends to offer something new, distinctive, and unconventional. The project team believes the service will find an audience because communication has become an integral part of the shopping experience. Consumers ask questions, seek advice, discuss products, share links, choose gifts, interact with sellers, and communicate with the platform itself. Developing a proprietary messenger is therefore not simply about launching a Wildberries corporate chat. It represents an expansion of the country's largest marketplace ecosystem into communication services.
A Dedicated Space for Communication
The decision by Russia's largest marketplace to develop its own messenger highlights a broader shift among domestic digital platforms toward super-app models that combine e-commerce, fintech, video shopping, communications, and other services in a single environment. If the product reaches the market, users could gain access to a messenger built directly into the shopping experience, allowing them to communicate with sellers, buyers, and friends while discussing products. One potential advantage is that all interactions would take place without leaving the Wildberries ecosystem.
Over time, the messenger could become a service embedded throughout the Wildberries customer journey. Rather than competing directly with popular messaging platforms such as Telegram or MAX, it may develop into a specialized communication tool designed specifically for interactions within the marketplace environment.
The biggest challenge is that Russia's messaging market is highly competitive, and a successful launch will require a distinctive product capable of attracting users. The project could also strengthen the technological independence of Russian digital platforms in communications, an increasingly relevant issue amid restrictions affecting foreign messaging services. The Wildberries solution may have export potential as well, given that Wildberries&Russ positions itself as an international technology company. Its current markets include Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, and the United Arab Emirates. The company also plans further expansion across Eastern markets and the Global South.
