Russia closes door on UK online retailers

Russia has been seen as a big opportunity for UK retailers but the door looks to be closing on this market for e-commerce companies as new restrictions on delivery windows into the country are set to come into effect on January 29.

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Russian clampdown

Retailers have enjoyed an unlimited number of clearances each day for goods entering the country but in a new rule they will only be able to get five customer clearances each day for business-to-consumer transactions.

This will create massive headaches for the likes of Next, Net-A-Porter, Asos. JLP and other European operators who will all have a much tougher time fulfilling orders for a hungry customer base in Russia.

It is understood that President Putin has become frustrated by the lack of revenue being generated by domestic online retailers and that this new obstacle being placed on successful overseas players is seen as a method to stymie the outsiders’ progress.

The major courier companies including DHL, UPS, Fedex and DPD will all be affected by the new ruling and it is tough to calculate at this stage what effect the new regulations will have on the turnovers at their major UK e-commerce customers.

A major player in the logistics industry believes the move will create a major blockage for UK e-commerce retailers who had come to regard Russia as a major source of potential future revenues.