Wildberries will launch support for the light industry: shoe manufacturers will have lower fees and storage costs as early as February
The united company Wildberries & Rus announced the launch in February of a comprehensive program to support the Russian light industry with the participation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. For the shoe category, this can significantly improve the SKU economy and increase competition with imports if manufacturers correctly recalculate the price, warehouse and returns. At the first stage, the focus is on domestic shoe manufacturers. The basic measures are to reduce commissions when selling on the site and reduce storage costs, plus additional development tools (promotion, infrastructure, services). An important caveat: the program is not for resellers, but for those who actually produce the product.
Why is this important not only "for the industry", but also for the economy of the product card
For shoes on marketplaces, the cost structure often “breaks down” not in production, but in infrastructure: commission, storage, logistics, returns, seasonality. If the platform reduces the two most sensitive items — the commission load and the warehouse load — the manufacturer has space for one of three scenarios.:
- reduce the retail price and take a share from imports and "grey" brands,
- keep the price down and channel the effect into the margin (which means into turnover and line expansion),
- invest in the quality of the content/fit/materials, reducing returns, which are especially painful for shoes.
The key meaning of the initiative was formulated by the head of the RVB — it is important to keep this quote, because it sets the positioning of the program as an industry tool.:
"to work in the interests of the entire industry and consumers, expanding the choice of high-quality goods produced in Russia."
On the part of the state, the goal is also described in an extremely applied way — through demand and accessibility:
"to increase the availability of high-quality Russian products and show consumers its diversity."
And one more remark about the interaction model:
"This is a good example of cooperation between the government and a digital platform."
What will change in the competition (and where are the “pitfalls")
1) The selection of participants will be key. If the rules of participation really cut off resale, manufacturers need to prepare an evidence base of origin in advance: production facilities, contracts, labeling, documents on materials and batches. This will reduce the risk that support will be “eaten up" by those who only re-paste labels.
2) The importance of management accounting through channels will increase. The reduction in commission and storage has an effect only if you know the P&L exactly by SKU: the percentage of refunds, the cost of processing, seasonal inventory turnover. Otherwise, the discount will turn into an inconspicuous “plus” without a strategic result.
3) The consumer effect depends on the quality of the product and content. Shoes are a category where trust is based on details: insole, shoe, material, fit. If the manufacturer uses support to speed up the release without quality control, refunds will eat up any savings.
What should manufacturers do now
- prepare a confirmation package that you are a manufacturer and not a reseller;
- recalculate the economy: where to direct the effect — price, margin, marketing, quality;
- reassemble the warehouse strategy for the season: less “dead” size, more accurate replenishment;
- set the KPI of the program: sales growth, a decrease in the share of returns, an increase in the share of Russian SKUs in the top category.
Bottom line: the initiative may become not a one—time benefit, but a lever that will give shoe factories a chance to systematically strengthen their positions in the most massive sales channel, provided that manufacturers enter the program with managerial discipline and transparent product provenance.
