Next, one of the UK’s largest and most successful fashion retailers, has partially localized its global cross-border e-commerce platform (NextDirect.com) to the Ukrainian market. The site now lists prices in hryvnias and most content is available in Russian. Ukrainian language is unavailable at present.
The online retailer. offers direct and free delivery to the country on orders over 250 hryvnias (approximately $16) through its DHL courier service, with delivery taking 5-7 days on average. No localized payment options are offered.
In their October report, the UK online retail association IMRG and Internet analytics company comScore named Next the largest online player in the segment of fashion retail (clothing, footwear and accessories) in the UK. The merchant delivers to over 70 countries around the world and has 500 offline stores in the UK and Ireland as well as around 200 franchise stores in over 40 countries globally.
The UK retailer was likely attracted to Ukraine following its successful cross-border sales operation in Russia, where cross-border sales accounted for approximately $3 billion last year, according to EWDN’s reports on Russian e-commerce. Having optimized the appeal of UK fashions and affordable delivery conditions, Next was delivering up to 4,000 parcels daily to Russia as of mid-2014.
The Ukrainian cross-border market is growing rapidly. According to GfK Ukraine, around 25% of local Internet users made online purchases abroad last year. The country’s top five cross-border online retailers include eBay.com and Amazon.com, as well as AliExpress.com and TaoBao.com of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. The Chinese holding is currently considering the possibility of localizing its websites to the Ukrainian market as well.
Source: Capital
