Russias Google plans move into online retail

YandexYandex, known for creating Russia’s equivalent to Google, is reportedly working on an online shopping service that it hopes could become the country’s Amazon.

According to Business Insider, Yandex is expanding its price comparison service, Yandex.Market, into a marketplace where people can order items similar to the ones available on Amazon like electronics, home appliances, toys, and more.

“This is a very new business for Yandex in terms of being a physical business,” Yandex executive Michael Levin told Business Insider. “For many years, we were purely online. Then there was Yandex Taxi, which became a huge part of Yandex, now theres Yandex.Market with warehouses storing products. We have already hired key members of the team responsible for logistics and warehouses.”

The service – a joint venture with Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank – is currently in beta with a pilot projects having run in the cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, and Ufa. A full launch is expected to come at some point later this year.

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