Magnit Cosmetic launches sales on Ozon

MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax) - Magnit Cosmetic, which is owned by PJSC Magnit and is Russia's largest retail chain selling cosmetics, household cleaning products and household items, has launched online sales through the Ozon marketplace, Magnit said in a statement.

Ozon displays Magnit Cosmetic's products for health and beauty, children's hygiene, and household cleaning, Magnit said, and the assortment should increase 15-fold to 6,000 items by the end of the year.

The assortment includes a significant number of the chain's private labels, such as Stellary, KuMiHo, Zollider, and others.

"The trend to buy beauty products online that started during the pandemic has continued, and we see great potential for developing this sales channel," Yevgeny Nikolayev, Magnit's Director of E-commerce Sales and Marketing, was quoted as saying in the statement.

FMCG have already become one of the most popular items on Ozon, as consumers have moved to routinely purchasing hygiene products, cosmetics, and household cleaning items online, Ozon Business Development Director Iloanga Yershova said. Consequently, Ozon saw demand double year-on-year for health and beauty products and household cleaning products in the first half of the year.

"The marketplace format is suitable not only for small- and medium-sized businesses, but also for large brands, even those that have their own sites online. Regarding Ozon, they can expand their sales geography throughout the country without restrictions, taking advantage of an audience of over 50 million people," Yershova added.

Magnit is Russia's largest retailer in terms of the number of stores and the second largest in terms of revenue. The company boosted revenue 38.2% to 1.14 trillion rubles in the first half of the year. Magnit managed 26,731 stores as of the end of June. The Magnit Cosmetic chain comprises 7,161 drugstores, with sales that increased 28.3% to 90.11 billion rubles in the first half of the year.