Ulmart-Russia's E-commerce Leader Pulls Away From the Crowd With Robust 1st Quarter Sales Results
Ulmart's first quarter results continue to demonstrate the strength of the company's unique format which combines the vastness of an Amazon-style online electronic catalogue while overcoming the logistical hurdles that cause headaches for Amazon and so many other e-commerce companies.
Ulmart's unique nationwide net of URBAN FULFILLMENT CENTERS serve to dissuade customers from last-mile servicing leading to higher satisfaction and lower costs for the company.
Ulmart's first quarter results are slightly ahead company forecasts with an increase of sales revenue of 44.3%. While the average buy dropped 4% the number of purchases increased by 46% to just under three million. The strong growth in the number of purchases is thanks to Ulmart's aggressive move into non-white and electronics goods which will surely further strengthen the company's bottom line margin.
The electronic-catalogue expansion plans for the remainder of 2014 will increase the current number of 63,000 SKU to 85,000 by year's end with most of the growth coming in the hot product-lines of children's goods, auto parts and tires and DIY. Computer sales were still the leading category but thanks to the company's shifting priorities in seeking to stabilize and grow its margins, the category declined by 6% compared to 4th Quarter results from last year.
Up until the end of 2013, enthusiasm among the investment community in Russian e-commerce was rather muted due to the lackluster growth of the industry's formerly benchmark company Ozon ($252 million GMV, 2012). Ulmart's net sales of $1.2 billion for 2013 have since a buzz in 2014 and suddenly both Ulmart and Russian e-commerce threaten to become the next big thing.
Ulmart's highly-experienced management team led by one of Russia's most dynamic CEO's Sergei Fedorinov has demonstrated over its very short life-span (the company was founded in August 2008) that whatever Fedorinov (and Dmitry Kostygin, the energetic Chairman of the Board) and Ulmart do is usually the right thing at the right time and the right place.
