The words "Internet", "electronic commerce", "virtual store" have recently been constantly accompanying us in the press, on radio, television and on the Internet itself. Gradually, the Internet is turning from a fashionable toy into one of the business tools.

The Internet “for the masses”, accessible to everyone, appeared not so long ago, in 1995, immediately gaining wild popularity among representatives of commercial structures, not to mention computer and scientific organizations, for which the Internet appeared much earlier. With the advent of the World Wide Web (WWW, or simply the Web), it became possible not only to exchange textual information, but also to deliver graphics, animation, sound, video and, in general, all the means of modern multimedia to the user. Then, in 1994-1995, the first online stores began to appear. Perhaps the most famous of them, which has already become a legend in the Internet business, is Amazon.com. This American company, the largest in the world in terms of turnover, is one of the first Internet services focused on the sale of real consumer goods, selling goods and services over the Internet. A prominent representative of the domestic Internet business is, in my opinion, the OZON.ru online store. It is to the study of his activities that I will devote my work.

History of OZON.ru - a story of success and development

OZON.ru was founded in 1998 by St. Petersburg company Reksoft and publishing house Terra Fantastica as a trading service for selling books and videos (VHS) via the Internet. The creation of OZON.ru was preceded by the launch in October 1997 of the interactive bibliographic database "AD VERBUM", on which methods of presenting information and the structure of databases were worked out. At the beginning of 1998 AD VERBUM was also supplemented with the user checkout functionality, which made it possible to build the basic logistics structures subsequently inherited by OZON.ru.

The decision to create a full-scale online store on a parity basis was made by the parent companies at the end of 1997. At the same time, Reksoft (CEO Alexander Egorov, CTO Dmitry Rudakov) undertook the creation and support of software and project hosting, and Terra Fantastica (CEO Nikolai Yutanov) took care of the content support of the site, ensuring the assortment and logistics .

The site OZON.ru started working and accepted the first orders on April 9, 1998. Marketing promotion of the project in the network was provided by the Internet portal "InfoArt" as a partner. In early August 1998, the affiliate program of the online store was launched, which gave a serious impetus to the promotion of Ozon.ru through independent Internet resources. In addition, OZON.ru was the first Russian-language online store that offered the user substantial content support for the products offered (reviews, reviews, recommendation system).

After the default in 1998, the Terra Fantastica publishing house was unable to continue participating in the project, and Reksoft bought out its share, becoming the sole owner of OZON.ru. The rapid growth in the turnover of the online store in the fall of 1998 forced the company to revise the previously used logistics principles on the go, which is why the acceptance of new orders was suspended during the restructuring and testing of the new system for accounting and processing orders in October (however, the shipment of previously made orders continued) . Despite this, in November, an absolute record was set in terms of the number of orders and the turnover of the service (excluding the cost of order delivery) increased to 200 thousand rubles. During this period, the functions of the project director were taken over by Dmitry Rudakov.

Significant growth in the turnover of the online store continued in 1999. In April 1998, an auxiliary service was launched to authorize credit cards when placing orders, later developed into an independent authorization service ASSIST. New sales lines were opened, including the sale of music recordings on audio cassettes and CDs, as well as videos on VideoCDs and DVDs. The information component of the project was expanded with a news feed dedicated to events in world and domestic culture. At the same time, OZON.ru was spun off as an independent legal entity of Ozon LLC with its own CEO, who was Gennady Spirin.

The global dot-com boom and the success of OZON.ru attracted the attention of investors who, throughout the year, were negotiating to acquire a stake in the company. These negotiations ended with the signing of an agreement with the investment company ru-Net Holdings on December 30, 1999: the investor bought out an additional issue of the company's shares for $1.8 million and received a controlling stake. Another 1.2 million dollars the investor undertook to invest in the development of Ozon's business during 2000. The turnover of OZON.ru in 1999 amounted to 350 thousand dollars. And in 2000, Baring Vostok Capital Partners acquired a controlling stake in the block of shares by investing a total of more than $3 million in the OZON.ru project.

In 2001, the system was completely replaced. Support and development are carried out by internal divisions of the company.

At the beginning of 2006, OZON.Ru moved its operations and logistics center to Tver. A new OZON.ru operations and logistics center is currently under construction in Tver, which will be the largest and most technologically advanced e-commerce center in Eastern Europe.

Thus, over the years, OZON.ru has gone from a store of cultural goods to a chain supermarket with the widest range of goods in Runet: today more than 500,000 items of goods are available for selection and ordering.

OZON.ru is one of the first domestic large-scale e-commerce projects in the B2C segment (business-to-consumer e-commerce system).

The creators of OZON.ru initially set the task of building an efficiently operating scalable business, which, on the one hand, would ensure the receipt, processing and dispatch of orders based on its own operational and logistics base, on the other hand, would offer the newest and most convenient web services that make shopping on the Internet as simple, convenient and accessible as possible to the widest range of Russian-speaking users anywhere in the world.

The online store OZON.ru uses the most advanced system in Russia for receiving, processing and delivering orders, offers visitors unique web services and a search system.

OZON.ru provides its customers with the highest and most modern level of service at all stages of order processing, processing and delivery. The store supports 18 payment methods and 14 order delivery methods, which allow customers, regardless of where they live, to choose the best combination of them.

OZON.ru partners are the most famous electronic payment systems, banks and financial companies, Russian Post, postal services TNT and SPRS, the International Post Office of Russia.

The intense creative work of the company's employees and the trust of millions of visitors and users have made OZON.ru one of the most famous online stores in Russia.

The mission of the online store OZON.ru

The Internet is more than technology, it is a fundamentally new mechanism for organizing life and meeting a variety of human needs. The Internet is actively changing the systems of development, information exchange and feedback in society.

Throughout its eleven-year history, the OZON.ru online store has been and remains a pioneer and innovator in the Russian e-commerce market. They are determined to continue to implement innovative technical and intelligent solutions that make the online shopping process truly convenient and attractive, provide visitors with access to the widest range of products, and offer a high level of service and information services.

As the largest B2C Russian e-commerce project, which provides the widest range of cultural goods in Russian and delivery of orders to anywhere in the world, they see their task in providing our compatriots in the near and far abroad with the opportunity to keep in touch with the national culture.

The OZON.ru online store operates in strict accordance with consumer protection and copyright laws.

The activities of OZON.ru in creating and implementing e-commerce standards, providing high quality services and applying innovative technologies are consistently highly appreciated by the professional community.

Among the awards that the OZON.ru online store has been awarded are national Internet awards, the Russian Trade Olympus award, honorary diplomas for the Best Logistics Operator in Russia.

The online store OZON.ru has been a member of the International Club of Friends of the State Hermitage for three years, with its financial support five books from the series of popular science books Buildings and Halls of the Hermitage have been published.

The OZON.ru online store is one of the founders and members of the Internet and Business Association, which was created in the summer of 2007 by leading Russian Internet companies in order to coordinate interaction, develop educational programs, and organizational efforts to improve regulatory legislation in the interests of the entire Internet business communities. This year, the company's leading specialists took part in the preparation and holding of the Joint Conference-2009, which was organized jointly by the Association "Internet and Business" and the Russian Public Center for Internet Technologies (ROCIT), as well as Russian Internet Week - 2009.

OZON.ru is one of the most famous online stores in Runet, and its website is a personalized dynamic Internet resource that has no analogues in Russian e-commerce.

According to a quantitative study conducted by IPSOS in March 2009, 93% of regular Internet users know the online store OZON.ru, more than 47% of respondents buy constantly in OZON.ru.

By September 1, 2009, the number of registered visitors to the online store OZON.ru exceeded 3.2 million people. The registration database is updated with 60,000 new records every month. According to the company's specialists, the number of active buyers who make at least one purchase within six months is more than 370,000 people.

The majority of OZON.ru clients (65%) are over 19 but under 35, with men (57%) predominating over women. 60% of customers rated their income as above average.

More than 300,000 visitors visit OZON.ru every day. In a month, customers spend an average of 7 million sessions on OZON.ru, making more than 38 million page views.

To analyze the behavior of visitors on the site, the OZON.ru online store uses the SiteCatalyst web analysis system from Omniture (USA). The introduction of this system is a unique example in the Russian Internet.

The data received by the system is used to analyze the effectiveness of marketing and advertising campaigns, optimize site navigation, and determine the structure of the product offer.

In September 2007, each registered visitor of OZON.ru received his own unique web page with products selected on the basis of an automatic analysis of his behavior on the site. The basis is the history of orders, the contents of the basket, views and reviews, which are compared with the preferences of other visitors. Based on the analysis of these intersections, recommendations are made. The visitor can participate in the formation of a personal storefront and independently set up a recommendation system. Each recommendation is accompanied by a proposal to evaluate the attitude towards the recommended product and the quality of the recommendation.

According to a customer survey, 85% of respondents highly appreciated the recommendations of OZON.ru. Every fourth addition of goods to the basket occurs on the recommendation of OZON.ru.

In September 2009, the OZON.ru online store launched a completely new accumulative program that allows you to receive points for purchasing goods or participating in marketing promotions and use them to receive a discount on subsequent orders. The OZON.ru client automatically becomes a member of the funded program. All buyers, except for legal entities, participate in the program. A point is a conventional unit equal to 1 ruble. You can get points for purchasing goods or participating in OZON.ru promotions. The points accumulated by participating in the accumulative program can be used to receive discounts on subsequent orders or exchange for annual discounts of 5% and 10%.

The advantage of the site is its reference and information part, namely the bibliography, the catalog of films and discography, the database of personalities, the archive of author's reviews and reviews, which are united by a single system of links and relationships. Visitors can create most of the content on the site on their own, using user personal pages, a system of reviews and ratings.

Magazine is a section of OZON.ru where journalists and reviewers write exclusive book reviews, talk about new films and latest music albums, and writers, actors, directors and musicians reflect on life and work. Here you can also find tips on what gift to buy for your loved one, how to choose the right computer or phone, which theater to spend the evening in, and win tickets to a concert or performance. Magazine is the most competent guide to the largest online store in Russia.

OZON.ru allows its customers not only to buy, but also to sell. The C2C project (on the site this service is called “Buy-Sell”) started in December 2007 and is developing steadily. Now the service is used by more than 8,000 people who have placed more than 20,000 ads for the sale of goods, up to 100 transactions are made daily. More than half of the ads are for products that are no longer available in the online store, which increases the chance of finding a rare book without leaving the site. Books are in the greatest demand, DVDs are in second place, and games and music are in third place. The company strives to make the service even more convenient, to make OZON.ru a comfortable place to sell or buy.

OZON.ru has managed to effectively transform its retail storefront into a popular interactive platform that enjoys a high level of trust. OZON.ru offers the placement of advertising banners, links from which will lead to the internal pages of the web resource (for example, to a detailed description of the product or to a catalog branch), e-mail mailings to the client base and embedding promotional materials, souvenirs, advertising products.

Special content projects, for example, “author's week” or narrowly targeted advertising, such as the “Product of the Day” block, are effective advertising tools on OZON.ru and are carefully selected for each partner.

Online store assortment

The online store OZON.ru is deservedly considered the largest Russian online store: its assortment includes more than 500,000 items of goods. A huge selection, quick search, optimal ordering algorithm and a high level of service are the unique advantages of OZON.ru.

The assortment of the online store is divided into large sections, the goods in which are collected in constantly updated categorized catalogs. To find the product you need, you can also use the search system, which allows you to perform an efficient and fast search on the widest range of parameters that are not available in conventional stores. Each product is placed on a separate page and provided with a photo, a detailed description, indicating the required imprint.

OZON.ru effectively uses the Internet for a visual and most informative presentation of goods, including high-quality photographs, the "flip through the book" function, video and music fragments, reviews and customer reviews, a system of personal recommendations, cross-links and internal banners.

The company's specialists use a dynamic pricing system that allows you to quickly respond to fluctuations in demand, effectively manage sales, and offer online store visitors the best prices for new products and products presented.

The largest section of OZON.ru is books, there are 335,000 titles in the catalog, 160,000 domestic publications, 175,000 books in foreign languages. The range of books in OZON.ru is universal - these are fiction, business, children's, popular science and scientific, reference and educational, socio-political historical literature, photo albums, art books and gift editions. The range of books in foreign languages, primarily in the main European languages, is constantly expanding, in 2008 the number of titles of these books increased by 34%.

Annually OZON.ru sells 3 million copies of books and confidently ranks among the ten largest Russian retail bookstores. In 2008, a new section of the catalog "VIP editions" was opened, which contains exclusive gift editions of the premium price segment. Compared to 2007, their sales increased by 24% in 2008.

Online store OZON.ru is a regular participant of the Moscow International Book Fair.

Almost 28,000 domestic and foreign films on all types of media are presented to the attention of film fans in the DVD and Video section. The assortment of the online store includes domestic and foreign foreign classics, modern cinema, domestic television series, author's and intellectual films, children's films and animated films, documentaries, educational and popular science programs. Recently, a new format of discs BLU-RAY is gaining popularity, the prices of which are falling. OZON.ru sends over 110,000 DVDs to its customers every month.

More than 61,000 titles of music discs are presented in the "Music" section of the OZON.ru online store, of which 30,000 titles are produced by leading foreign labels. Since 2009, OZON.ru has been presenting more than 5,000 titles of imported audio CDs from the world's leading label Warner Music, for which you can place an order with delivery from the OZON.ru warehouse. The catalog of the online store contains more than 6,000 exclusive and gift music discs.

The "Soft and Games" section presents computer games, software for home and business, educational programs from domestic and foreign manufacturers, as well as video games and consoles. In total, there are more than 11,000 items of goods available for selection and ordering. Exclusive, collector's editions of the most popular computer games are in ever-growing demand. In 2009, the priority is the development of business software.

In autumn 2005, three new sections became available to OZON.ru customers: "Electronics", "Mobile Phones", "Photo and Video", which present a wide range of digital electronics, computer equipment and accessories, photo and video cameras, and mobile phones.

Today it is the most dynamically developing segment of the store assortment - in 2008 the sales volume increased by 76% compared to 2007 and amounted to 24.8 million dollars - 32.2% of the total sales volume. In 2007-2008, a new section "Household Appliances" was opened, which presents popular household goods from the world's leading manufacturers.

All equipment, which is presented in the OZON.ru online store, has all the necessary documents, certificates for sale on the territory of the Russian Federation.

After the successful launch of Elektronika, OZON.ru continued to open catalog sections presenting new products. The choice was largely determined by the results of a study of the preferences and wishes of regular customers and visitors to OZON.ru. In 2006-2007, sections "Home and Interior", "Sports and Recreation", "Beauty Salon" were opened.

The "Home and Interior" section presents a wide range of textile products, kitchen utensils, decor items, seasonal home and garden products from well-known European and Russian manufacturers - a total of 10,000 items.

In the "Sports and Recreation" section, a visitor to OZON.ru can choose goods that are useful and necessary not only for sports, but also for hiking, traveling, and country holidays. Now the assortment of this section includes more than 1,500 items of goods.

Beauty Salon was opened in OZON.ru less than two years ago, but already now it has more than 8,000 items of goods from 150 leading world brands. It can be said with full right that in this short period of time OZON.ru has established itself as a store that presents high-quality cosmetic and perfumery products that strictly comply with the standards and norms in force on the Russian market.

St. Petersburg is the city where OZON.ru was created. The high title of the cultural capital of Russia determined the specialization of the company's branch in this city. Its employees lead the most important areas of sales - used books, rarities and antiques. In cooperation with the best second-hand booksellers and antique dealers of the city on the Neva, they provide a unique opportunity for online store visitors to replenish their libraries with the best and rare books published at all times, and not only in Russia.

The catalog of printed products of the online store OZON.ru has a unique section - "Books". This is a large catalog of used books, albums, collected works, encyclopedias and libraries. Today, the site OZON.ru presents 32,500 second-hand book titles that have been published over the past 50 years.

One of the main principles of the formation of second-hand books is to provide a wide selection of interesting, high-quality publications of different genres.

This means that here you can find not only those publications that are time-tested and are in constant demand among true connoisseurs, but also little-known authors with a small audience of admirers. There are also unique offers - specially formed second-hand libraries on various topics.

The bookstore department of OZON.ru provides customers with publications only in good and excellent condition and in the most complete set. "Bookinistry" in OZON.ru is a convenient opportunity to find a publication that you will not find on the bookshelves of ordinary stores.

Of undoubted interest for lovers of antiquity and collectors is the section "Antiques and collectibles", which contains antique books, graphics, exclusive luxury editions, vintage items, photographs and postcards. Diversity, breadth of coverage and quantity of the assortment (more than 11,000 unique items) is one of the key factors for the success of this direction.

The Antique Department marked the beginning of 2009 with the opening of an independent section "Author's Works", which presents such types of handmade goods as "Batik", "Tin Miniature", "Glass", "Ceramics", "Jewelry made of beads and semi-precious stones", "Lithopis (paintings on stone)", "Belts and buckles", "Watercolors".

"Gifts" is one of the most actively replenished sections of OZON.ru, which presents various accessories for men and women and business souvenirs. The assortment of this section includes almost 10,000 items of goods that are in steady demand from our visitors.

E-tickets, various travel products and business trips have long been one of the leaders in the global e-commerce. It is significant that last year 52% of the total volume of air tickets sold in the world was sold through electronic sales systems.

Only using online services, you can purchase railway or air tickets without queues at the box office, quickly and accurately choose (and, if necessary, change) the time and place of rest, type of transport, a set of sightseeing tours, and make the best route for a business trip, taking into account personal preferences.

In Russia, this direction in e-commerce is just beginning to gain popularity, however, given the size of the territory, the geographical location of the country, of course, it is in demand and has great potential for rapid growth. This is facilitated, in particular, by the start of sales of electronic tickets in Russia. Immediately after completing the booking and paying for the ticket, the buyer receives an itinerary receipt by e-mail. The storage of information about the booking (passenger's personal data, route, trip details, cost) is carried out electronically in the carrier's databases.

In the spring of 2009, OZON.ru launched a new project, OZON-TRAVEL, operated by Internet Travel. The goal of the project is to create a high-tech online booking system that will meet all modern requirements for the quality of service, speed of processing and convenience of the payment system. The project is based on the technological, marketing potential and vast experience of OZON.ru in the e-commerce market, the demand for modern and high-quality services for the purchase of transport tickets and tourism products.

OZON-TRAVEL is a unique resource that allows you not only to purchase electronic air or train tickets, book a hotel or order a transfer, but also, using modern technologies, design your own trip, choosing the components that are optimal in terms of time and price. The high level of trust and loyalty of the regular audience of OZON.ru, well-established logistics procedures are the key to the success of this strategically important project.

OZON-TRAVEL - an agency that uses a flexible online booking system for both individual services (tickets, hotels, transfers) and package tours, provides a potential client with a wide selection of the best offers from reliable tour operators and carriers.

In the spring of 2008, OZON.ru began selling digital content. The first type of this new direction for OZON.ru was digital books, which are presented in the eponymous section of the "Books" catalog.

Digital books are books in the form of computer files. They can be downloaded from the website of the online store by placing an order, paying for it using a bank card or an electronic payment system, and can be read both on a regular computer or laptop, and on various mobile devices (phones, communicators, smartphones), as well as on special devices designed to read e-books.

Digital books do not compete with regular books - but rather complement them. In some cases, using digital books is much more convenient - for example, when on vacation it is easier to take a reading device with you or even use a regular communicator.

Hundreds of various books will fit on one memory card. As a rule, each digital book is available in several popular formats, and their price is significantly lower than conventional ones. All digital books presented on OZON.ru are distributed solely on the basis of agreements with copyright holders.

Today, in the assortment of the Digital Books section, there are more than 25,000 books of various genres available for selection and download.

The company's goal is to make OZON.ru the largest Internet resource in Runet where you can purchase legal digital music content.

Integrated operational and logistics system OZON.ru. Operational and logistics complex "Borovlevo-2"

Opened in July 2009, the complex was built in the Borovlevo-2 industrial zone. This is a building with a total area of ​​more than 12 thousand square meters, equipped with all types of necessary communications and having the most modern logistics equipment. Borovlevo-2 allows processing up to 7.6 million units of goods annually, storing more than 4 million goods on the shelves, completing and dispatching up to 4.7 million orders per year. The complex employs 450 employees - residents of Tver.

Investments in construction and technological equipment amounted to about 20 million US dollars. Partners in the design and technical planning of the complex are the world's leading companies Swisslog (Switzerland) and DOCdata (Holland). Partners bring the latest operational technologies to the project, based on the use of modern equipment and IT systems, which allow optimizing warehouse business processes and automating most operations.

Borovlevo-2 is the largest operational and logistics complex in Eastern Europe in the field of e-commerce.

The OZON.ru online store has a unique modern operational and logistics system based on its own IT platform. It allows you to quickly receive goods, place them on storage shelves, complete orders, check the correctness of picking, control and keep records of commodity flows and storage units.

The unified logistics system OZON.ru also includes warehouse centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the vast majority of online store visitors live, the new integrated logistics and delivery system allows OZON.ru to guarantee the delivery of orders within 24 hours after ordering or on the same day using the express delivery service.

In Moscow, the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, the delivery of orders to customers and the maintenance of order pick-up points (POIs) is carried out by the O-Courier company, which specializes in courier services. The company constantly employs more than 100 couriers who can deliver up to 3,000 orders daily in Moscow and up to 1,000 orders in St. Petersburg. The PVZ network includes 3 own points in the center of Moscow, 2 - in the center of St. Petersburg and a network of more than 40 partner points in Moscow and the Moscow suburbs.

Through all points of issue of orders in Moscow and St. Petersburg, up to 3,000 orders are issued daily.

In 2008, O-Courier processed more than 1,000,000 orders, 85% of which were orders from OZON.ru customers. The divisions of the company are united by a single information system that provides instant updating of information and synchronization of the actions of various divisions. One of the main divisions of the company - a warehouse - operates 24 hours a day, which allows us to provide delivery services the next day for most customers who comply with the rules for the transfer of information. The main logistics operations are carried out at night, the daytime is intended for working with clients, processing incoming and outgoing cargo.

"O-Courier" is a company offering modern high-quality services for receiving, processing and delivering orders. The company provides:

telephone contact with the client and reaching an agreement on the timing and place of delivery of the order;

delivery of the order to the client by courier or delivery to the pickup point;

acceptance of cash from the client, their collection and transfer to the settlement account of the seller company;

handing over to the client a set of necessary documents, including a cash receipt;

receiving and processing orders returned by customers;

providing the company-seller with a report on the work done.

The high level of Internet penetration in the regions of Russia, the improvement in the quality of communication channels and banking infrastructure lead to the active use of the Internet not only as a source of free information, but also as a means of acquiring services and making purchases, which increases the popularity of online stores in the regions.

The e-commerce market in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the pioneer cities in the use of the Internet in Russia, is close to saturation, while the mass network user in the regions is only taking the first steps in its practical, utilitarian use, including for online purchases of goods, which you can't find in a regular store. Under these conditions, the most important competitive advantages in expanding the regional sales network are a wide range of products, the same price for all regions, and fast order delivery.

OZON.ru traditionally offers its visitors a wide range of payment methods and receiving orders. Now, when placing an order, a visitor to an online store can choose the best combination of 18 payment methods and 14 delivery methods for goods. Partners in the delivery of orders across the territory of the Russian Federation are Russian Post, postal services TNT and SPSR. Postal services cannot always provide fast delivery of the order to the buyer. But the meaning of e-commerce is not only the remote selection of the desired product from a large assortment, but also the quick receipt of an order in a convenient place at the right time.

Using the experience of organizing the processing and delivery of goods in Moscow and St. Petersburg, OZON.ru is actively developing a courier delivery service, which is largely innovative in domestic conditions, or receiving orders at points of issue in the regions of the Russian Federation.

Today, a network of agent companies has been deployed in 26 largest cities that deliver orders by couriers throughout the city or offer to receive them at the points of issue of orders. As a rule, such points are located in convenient places in the city center and are equipped with everything necessary for customer service.

Agent companies provide not only the delivery of orders, but also the receipt of funds from customers, the processing of returns of orders. The use of a network of agent companies can significantly reduce the delivery time of orders, and, importantly, personalize the OZON.ru online store in the eyes of regional users, increase their level of confidence in the online store, and in general in electronic commerce, as a reliable and an efficient way to purchase needed goods.

The strategic direction for improving the delivery service and receiving orders in the regions is the constant expansion of the agent network, which provides both courier delivery of orders and the work of pickup points, improving the quality of service and reducing the delivery time of orders. In 2009, standards for the speed of delivery of orders to the regions and a system of obligations to comply with them to buyers were introduced. OZON.ru is an online store that ensures the availability of an equally wide range of goods and high quality service to all Russians, regardless of their geographical location.

The online store OZON.ru is a dynamically developing company, and its employees are a large friendly team of like-minded people, not devoid of healthy ambitions and rooting for a common cause.

Today, the company employs more than 800 people, and each is a professional in his field. Among them are those who came recently, bringing their skills and abilities, and those who have been cooperating with the company for many years, having gained unique practical experience in the field of Internet commerce.

The results of the work of each employee and the success of the project teams, expressed in the effective implementation of ideas, do not go unnoticed.

The company invests a lot of money in the development of programs aimed at increasing employee loyalty, motivation, training and development, thereby contributing to professional self-realization and increasing the efficiency of each employee.

The corporate culture of OZON.ru is based on mutual respect for each other, positive thinking, close partnerships between managers and subordinates. The management of the company, its branches and partner structures is based on uniform principles of personnel management and social policy, regardless of location.

Competitors

The main competitor of the OZON.ru online store is the eHouse Internet holding.

If OZON.ru is an Internet supermarket where you can buy a wide variety of goods on one site, then eHouse is a holding consisting of 25 online stores of various specializations. The entire assortment is distributed there according to certain thematic areas, including stores: Dostavka.ru, Megashop, Aromat.ru, Bolero.ru, etc. Considering that the bulk of the OZON.ru assortment is made up of books and CDs, its closest competitor is the Internet resource Bolero.ru.

• Diverse and very wide range;
• Clearly structured product catalog, where you can get additional information about the author (director, actor, producer);
• High-quality description of goods and original content;
• Responsive support service;
• Transparency in order fulfillment. At each stage of placing an order, the buyer knows what is happening to him;
• Well-established logistics system. Order processing is clear and fast;
• Attention to detail. Goods sent to OZON.ru customers are always carefully and neatly packed in special protective materials;
• System of discounts, bonuses and sales that stimulate demand;
• Interesting marketing promotions.

Thanks to all this, according to information from the official press release of the company, in 2007, OZON.ru sent almost 1 million. orders, the annual growth of the company's turnover amounted to 93%. The successfully implemented marketing work of the company is obvious.

Literature:

How to open an online store / Alena Salber. - M.: Smart-Book, 2008. - 320s. - (How to earn).

Internet resources:

http://www.ozon.ru/

http://ru.wikipedia.org/

http://www.cfin.ru/press/marketing/

· Reference literature:

“Tell me, tell me the whole truth: Am I the sweetest in the world?”, – in the modern world, few businesses doubt their ideality.

By default, most people think that competition is for wimps, or as women say: “Are you jealous?! So I'm not sure of myself."

But seriously, the analysis of competitors hides all the most important things in itself, because after all, we are fighting for the same customers. Therefore, you need to know everything about the activity of competitors in order to do better.

Know by sight

With the idea that the analysis of competition in the market is good, you have already come to terms. Now the next step is to find those very “enemies of the people”.

And as practice shows, a lot of companies place accents incorrectly, and as a result, they join the race with companies that will never stand next to them.

To truly understand who your competitor is, you need to start with a definition.

You need to find people with potential for you. You then determine between which companies these customers choose.

And only then you will truly see which companies are fighting for the same customers as you. These will be your key competitors.

I draw your attention to the fact that if you are not a federal company of the level of “M-video” or “Ozon” (such our blog is rarely read), then you should NOT set yourself to defeat all-Russian monsters.

I do not want to offend you, but most likely your entire advertising budget (like ours) for federal companies is a miscalculation.

You need to be smarter and aim at your client, and not try to fight them for one market.

In addition to key competitors, you have direct and indirect ones. For you, the direct ones are just federal networks and other companies for which or for which you are too tough.

Indirect - those companies that, by coincidence in the world, can become your direct competitors, or those businesses.

Who fight for the same budget of your client, but at the same time work in a different area (for example, you are a restaurant, and your indirect competitor is a cinema).

Important. The frequency of analysis is formed based on the dynamics of the market. The more and more often changes occur in your field, the more often you will have to assess the situation of competing businesses.

Systems approach

“I know everything about them” is the most common phrase we hear when collecting information about competitors in or.

In this case, we have dozens of questions that will solve the client like bullets and show that he is not immortal and his overconfidence only harms him.

Comparative analysis of competitors is not a “know-don't-know” game. This is a systematic approach, consisting of methods, tools and a huge number of tables and graphs.

Therefore, we throw the school approach into a corner and talk about analysis like adults. And for this we need to separate the two concepts that we will use in the process.

1. The subject of study is part of the analyzed business.
2. The study method is an approach when analyzing a part of a business.

Roughly speaking, you must separate the concepts between yourself - “What are we analyzing?” and “How do we analyze (criteria for evaluating competitors)?”.

To complete the picture, we will consider both. So get ready for a huge amount of boring-interesting (yes-yes) words and sentences. And we will start with the subject of analysis, since the method is formed on the basis of it.

Subject of study

Depending on the goal of the analysis of the competitive environment, you will have different areas of assessment.

It is quite possible that literally one subject of study from the entire list will come in handy for you, but for sure, if you study more, then it will not be superfluous. Of course, no one will pat you on the head, but there will be more money.

How touching

1. Basic information

At the beginning of the analysis, everything is like in the army: “Weight, height, year of birth?”. We study the background information to form a general idea about the players on the battlefield.

Most likely you already know all the information if you have been working for more than a year, but we recommend that you remove these thoughts, as the world is changing, just like competitors are changing.

The more serious the competition, the more introductory information you need to collect, since every detail can become a path to differentiation.

To make it easier for you to understand what I'm talking about, check out the list of recommended basic information to collect:

1. Year of foundation;
2. Region;
3. Management;
4. Number;
5. Market share;
6. working money;
7. Key clients;

As a separate point, I would like to draw your attention to the companies. When analyzing, we need to look beyond the “now”.

Of course, it is more important for everyone to get money right now. But we must not forget that business is not a sprint, it is a marathon, where the winner is determined by the end of a long journey.

And if you do not foresee this, then maybe everything will be fine for you now, but in a few years it will go down the drain.

2. Product matrix

The first thing you need to start learning is the company's product, as everything grows from it. Not marketing, not sales, but the product.

People go for a service and a product, and only then go to the company. Having studied their offer, we will be able to understand how competitive the foundation of your company is.

2.1. Product

You must study the product from all sides, paying attention even to details. This will help you find yours not only on a global level, but also in great detail.

If you make a basic list of areas that you should pay attention to, then it will look like this:

1. Range;
2. Size;
3. Appearance;
4. Package;
5. Characteristics;
6. Warranty support;
7. Color;
8. Implementation format;
9. Term;
10. degree of fame.

Moreover, it is necessary to evaluate not only the main category of products, but the whole.

You need to understand what are the main products, upsells, premium products, and so on.

You study everything you can get your hands on. After all, if you spent at home, then you know that there are situations when the main profit is made by products from which you do not expect this.

To make the analysis of goods and services of competitors more effective, it is recommended to draw up the whole thing in a table or graph.

But again, everything is at your discretion, because how it will be framed in the end does not matter. You do everything for yourself, and not for a thesis (remembered the institute, right?).

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 29,000 people.
TURN ON

2.2. Pricing

Each product has its own value. Of course, it consists not only of the cost, as is commonly believed.

The larger the company, the more other costs are included, including the overpayment for the brand. Therefore, first of all, you need to find out what is included in their cost and what is the profit.

Then you need to go over to the client side and evaluate the very fact of the final cost, because the cost price is not important for the consumer, he sees the final value and already determines by it - yes or no.

Most likely, you analyze the prices of competitors at the exit quite often, since for many this is an analysis of competition in the market.

If there is no way to fight the cost, try to beat them with other differences, or use one of the strategies described in our article.

3. Marketing

Marketing is a huge topic for analysis. You won't learn it 100% for sure. This is due to the fact that you never know exactly where the budget from a competitor is now directed.

However, marketing is the front door of a business, and how it is properly packaged and formed will determine whether a client will go to you or them.

3.1. Basic Marketing

The first marketing analysis of competitors should begin with a study of the foundation of their approach.

You need to understand how they present themselves and “what they breathe”. In other words, you analyze .

Even if it doesn’t exist at first glance, you still need to understand at least where they are going. After all, we must remember that analysis provides a vision not only tactical, but also strategic.

These are the 5 aspects that we pay attention to first of all after the strategies of competitors.

For the rest of the points, it makes no sense to continue, since the topic is obvious and does not require disclosure.

But if I'm wrong, then you can write a comment under this article and we will help you in identifying your competitors' basic marketing questions.

And all this is completely free, because we do not charge money for small advice. This is our investment in you for the future.

Cool!

3.2. Customer acquisition

We had a client who had a competitor take away buyers right from under his nose.

He did not exceed his budget, he went around his mind. Namely, he was always one step above our client.

Need a marketing analysis?

Order it from us

Strategy
promotion

Differences from
competitors

Types of clients and their
election criteria

dynamics and
market trends

And a lot of other information

3.3. Retention, monetization and return of customers

The most beloved part of the business of all entrepreneurs is attracting customers. In 7 out of 10 cases, during consultations, we hear the question: “Where to get new clients?”.

It feels like a wedge of light has converged on them. And this erroneous opinion wanders from year to year.

But in vain, it is possible to increase the capitalization of the company without attracting customers. To do this, you just need to work correctly with the customer base.

And most likely your competitors do not miss this opportunity and use everything to the fullest.

Therefore, you need to study all possible additional actions in the field of marketing of your colleagues in the shop. As usual, I provide you with a basic list of zones for analysis:

1. SMS sending;
2. Additional gifts.

This item should be the most voluminous for you, since it includes all marketing activities that are aimed at customers.

And since marketing has more than 5,000 tools among them, I admit that you won’t be able to find everything.

However, you need to go through all the major ones and figure out what's good about their marketing.

4. Sales

Marketing is just a tool to attract customers and increase their desire to buy. Everything else in a classic business is done by people and sales tools.

Therefore, you need to know everything about sales in a competitor's company. And, like marketing, this part is roughly divided into several parts.

4.1 People

It is very bad for a business when customers work with people and not with the company. But from the point of view of analysis, you need to approach from this side.

To really see what is so special about employees that consumers work with them, and not just with us. Here the list of analyzed items can be as follows:

1. Positions;
2. Regalia;
3. Personal qualities;
4. Appearance;
5. manner of communication;
6. Education.

You need to learn everything about their team. It is possible that their entire business is based on people.

For example, because specialists with very famous names work for them. For you, this means that if you do not strengthen yourself with no less famous people, you will have to sweat in the struggle for a place in the sun.

4.2 Sales tools

In paragraph 3.3, we looked at tools that also help sell to employees.

But here we will talk about something else. In marketing, these are tools that directly contact customers, and in this case we are talking about actions and materials that function only within the company and the client does not see them.

In simple language, I will call this “audit of the sales department”, in the most classic sense of the phrase.

You learn everything that makes their sales managers as effective and motivated as possible. I recommend starting with the following points:

1. Reports;

You can evaluate only sales scripts without any problems. It is practically impossible to study the rest without a mishandled Cossack, a Trojan horse or other cunning ways of infiltrating behind enemy lines.

You will simply not be allowed inside the company, and the answer to the question - "Why?" is quite obvious - "Because".

But if you really want to, then you can fly into space and get this information. Proudly say, tested on our clients.

5. Conditions and business processes

When you know everything about the product, marketing and sales, then you are literally missing the last piece of the puzzle, these are their conditions and business processes.

In part, you will receive this information when studying the previous parts of the business, but here again (or again) you need to look at the whole thing from the other side.

Study their logistics, study their production, study their ability to provide deferrals, installments, products for sale.

You need to study all their working conditions from a needle to a rope. Even if some of them are not so important for the client, but if a company does this (especially one that is better than us), then it understands why it needs it.

The most obvious way to study the conditions and business processes is to go through the entire customer journey from A to Z, from call to purchase, and even better, to return / abandonment of the product, if possible.

And you must be the most meticulous client, so that you are fully served and you see all parts of the business.

In this way, you will be able to understand how to improve your working conditions. For example, you will implement faster delivery than theirs, or introduce interest-free installments for 24 months, when everyone has 12.

You can also improve your business processes to make them different (this is one way to differentiate), or increase efficiency, or reduce costs.

Study method

In the modern world, there are dozens of methods to conduct a competitive market analysis.

There are even those that are held for several months. We will study the simplest, and at the same time the most effective, methods of competitor analysis for an ordinary classic business.

Leave complex and voluminous processes to us, because this also needs to be learned. For one article, besides without a mentor, it is very difficult to do this.

Bad news. Within the framework of this article, we will not be able to consider in detail all methods of analyzing the market of competitors, since each of them will take more than one thousand words.

Therefore, we will analyze the concept, and if you are interested in one of them, then read more in other articles.

1. Benchmarking

The simplest and most large-scale (in terms of pages) way to analyze the competitive environment.

You define evaluation criteria (and based on the text above, you realized that there are hundreds of them) and compare yourself with each competitor in the form of a table or graph.

You can rate on the basis of “Yes / No”, “Yes / No” or in a numerical value from 1 to 10. I prefer the second option, as it is more transparent.

Comparative analysis

The main disadvantage of this method is that some aspects of the business cannot be objectively assessed by categorical or numerical criteria.

Also, you can only evaluate the present situation at the moment, and not see what might happen next, what threats and risks might be. And you also need to know this, since you obviously plan to work for more than one year.

Comparative analysis of companies

Comparative competitive analysis can be carried out both within the whole company and within a certain instrument in order to obtain the most reliable information.

But at the same time, it will take several times more time, perhaps even dozens of times, so prioritize correctly.

Comparative analysis of instruments

2. SWOT analysis

The most popular method of analyzing the market and the main competitors. A classic of the genre among analyzes, which is still taught in institutes.

Its meaning lies in the fact that you compare yourself with a particular competitor in 4 parts: strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities.

These four parts are divided into external and internal. This way already sees the bigger picture for the future.

This article is a practical step-by-step instruction for competitor analysis. A universal example will help you analyze competitors for a specific product or an entire company. Before starting work, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the material "", which describes the goals of such analytics.

What is competitor analysis and why is it necessary?

Let's say you want to open a lingerie store, and you've even found a convenient walk-through location for it, come up with a name, and purchased a product. How do you determine at what cost it is better to sell your products? Of course, the cost of linen should include all your expenses and profits, but at the same time the price should be competitive. So, you will definitely go through similar stores, see how much they sell similar models, what assortment range they have, take a closer look at how buyers react to the price and what they take more often. Those. Do a basic competitive analysis.

So, competitor analysis is getting specific information about the activities of enterprises occupying a similar or similar niche, the work of which may affect your sales. To know a competitor by sight means to navigate the market.

For example, a client asks you a question: “Why is the same flow-through water filter from your competitors cheaper by 300 rubles?”. If you know a competitor and their product, you can justify that a water filter sold by a competitor does not have a service warranty and you have to pay for installation when installing it, while your company offers the same product with installation and a guarantee of only 300 rubles expensive.

Thus, knowing your competitors gives you the opportunity to easily counter customer objections, and if you use them in advertising and create billboards with information that you sell flow filters with installation and a guarantee, this is already a serious bid to win over competitors in a particular product.

Preparatory stage

Before analyzing competitors, you need to identify them. First, determine the geography of your market: district, city, regional, state, etc. For example, if you open a small sports bar in a residential area, then we are talking about a regional market; if you are engaged in cleaning services, then there is an urban market. Trade in goods for restaurants and hotels (equipment with dishes, textiles) is already a regional or state market.

Once you have determined your geography, start identifying competitors. To do this, you need to make a list of everyone who exists in your geographic (and adjacent) market, is engaged in similar activities and can attract your customers.

Getting Started with Competitor Analysis

Step 1. Determine the degree of competition and identify key competitors.

The main - the main competitors are those who can significantly influence your activities and take away your customers. Indirect competitors are those that are engaged in similar activities, but in an adjacent niche. For example: an Internet provider for individuals and a provider for legal entities.

Having received a list of direct and indirect competitors, we collect general information about them:

• location, points of sale, contacts, management;
• assortment and quality of goods;
• price policy;
• level of service and additional services;
• advertising activity;
• potential and development plans.

Also, if possible, it is necessary to evaluate the quantitative level of sales of a competitor. For example, we analyze all the same competitive lingerie stores. We arrive in the morning, almost immediately after the opening, and make a small purchase, save the receipt. We come to the same store before closing and buy something again. Comparing the receipt numbers, you can guess the number of daily sales.

If a competitor has several cash desks, respectively, we multiply the figure in the difference in check numbers by the number of cash desks in the hall and subtract 20% (this is a natural simple cash desk). But this method is not suitable for everyone, so you can do elementary observation or bribe a competitor’s employee to get the right data.

Step 2: Assessing the Intensity of Competition

In your industry, competition can be intense and weak. If the market is characterized by weak competition, it is static and rarely subject to change. The more active competitors, the more often the conditions of coexistence change. In such a market it is important

• have up-to-date information about the activities of competitors;
• be able to respond quickly to their actions.

A prime example of a high-intensity market is the portable electronics industry - mobile phones, digital cameras and smartphones, tablets - all become obsolete as soon as they appear on store shelves, because competition between their manufacturers is incredibly strong.

Your task is to understand:

• how many competitors do you have in the market;
• how actively they introduce new products, change the price;
• to what extent they are represented in the media space, how and in what quantity they are advertised.

It may be that your competitor is stable, he brings out a new product no more than 1-2 times a year, but has a strong advertising presence. This is the position of a stable company that the consumer knows and you will also need such information.

Step 3: Create a Competitor Profile

To do this, we need to know the entire range of the enemy. Conduct reconnaissance in combat, get all the price lists of your competitor and make up his product portfolio, highlight his anchor (key) positions that provide the highest share of sales.

Green in the table highlights the key product, and pink - the coincidence of the assortment position.

Step 4. Analyzing the properties of anchor products

To understand how we can compete with a particular company or product, let's take a close look at the product that the competitor is betting on.

For example, we are talking about a sports bar. Such a comparative product will be proposals for menus and visual properties (screens).

The rating is most conveniently ranked on a scale from 0 to 5, where
0 is no quality and 5 is the strongest suggestion.

You can analyze the qualities of a competitor yourself (by visiting his point of sale as a client). But the most objective assessment will give a survey of consumers.

The information obtained can be combined into a visual graph of the properties of products.M

The smoother and wider the circle on this chart (construction in Excel - “radar chart”), the higher the characteristics of competitiveness:

Step 5: Analysis of the price component

Finally, it's time to compare prices. since we already know the quality rating of the product, the price will be easier to understand. To make an analysis quickly, break competitors into price segments:

• economy;
• average;
• average plus;
• high;
• premium.

Probably one or two of the segments may be empty. For example, not all products exist in the premium segment, and the average plus may be rare. Next, we identify the prices of goods and their lower and upper limits, the average price:

Step 6: Identify the Market Position of Competitors

It is important to understand how the consumer sees competitors and what he knows about them. It is best to monitor the opinions of consumers (forums, surveys, reviews).

We note the following points:

• how well-known is the competitor and what is known about him;
• what price characteristic (expensive or inexpensive) does the consumer give him;
• what qualitative characteristic (good or bad) does the consumer give to the competitor's product;
• when and why the client goes to a competitor (specialized goods or general purpose);
• what message does the competitor carry to the consumer (promise in advertising);
• how often a customer refers to a competitor's product.

Step 7: Assessing Customer Acquisition and Advertising Methodology

Now it is important to understand how the competitor attracts customers. We know everything about his product, about its price, about how the price corresponds to the product, it's time to determine where the buyer gets an incentive to buy and what becomes a decisive argument for him.

Collect leaflets, take pictures of competitors' billboards to see what steps they use to contact the client and not repeat them in their advertising.

Step 8: Identifying a competitor's customer profile

To do this, we apply all previously acquired knowledge about the product, its price and qualities, about the competitor's advertising and its placement.

We identify the following parameters of the target audience:

• age and gender;
• profitability;
• family composition;
• field of activity;
• product selection criteria;
• psychographic characteristics (conservatives or innovators, dependence on impulse decisions, key stimulus, degree of exposure to advertising influence, etc.).

All this will help determine a consumer survey, which, subject to a small budget, can be carried out on your own in social networks.

Step 9: Evaluate the competitor's approach and manufacturability

The last gathering of information is to understand what means the competitor has, how much funding he has, how thoroughly he approaches his business. For example, with a fundamental approach and an annual inventory, a firm is much stronger than those companies that immediately use the proceeds from the sale of one batch of goods to purchase a second batch.

What salaries does the competitor offer, what technologies and equipment does it use, what is the qualification of its employees, how much money can it attract to promptly respond to your actions.

Step 10: Conduct SWOT Analysis

Practical examples of SWOT analyzes can be seen in several of our materials:

• SWOT analysis of a restaurant in a shopping and entertainment center;

The essence of the analysis is that for each competitor:

1. identify strengths and determine how they are dangerous for you;
2. identify shortcomings and weaknesses and understand what opportunities they give you.

In conclusion, it should be said that competitor analysis should be carried out regularly, at least once every six months, and constantly monitor the emergence of new players, any advertising activity, promotions, assortment expansion. With those competitors that are indirect, you can even cooperate if you wish, which will give you a head start over stronger direct opponents.

+2

Analysis of competitors in Internet marketing is an important aspect in planning/development of a company's activities, since it is the timely measurement of the overall situation on the market, analysis of the business in comparison with competitors that allows you to choose the right and verified course of strategic navigation.

Possible options

Traditionally, marketing analysis of competitors is carried out as part of solving complex marketing problems. Otherwise, it is called the "4P" analysis:

The analytics process is quite time-consuming, and here the choice is yours: implement it internally or involve independent auditors. The pricing policy of specialized companies depends on the type of research:

• ready-made research (it will be in the subject of business, but not adapted for you, but only a general cut of the market. Price - from 50,000 rubles);
• individual research (carried out taking into account your parameters. The average price is from 150-200,000 rubles).

When planning a study, it is important to understand that the result depends on the formulation of the problem. It must be formulated based on the SMART methodology. With this in mind, your planning should be:

• strictly regulated in time;
• determined by the budgetary framework;
• contain analysis evaluation criteria;
• have an end goal.

If you order a study from an agency, make sure that all the above points are met. And if you decide to conduct it yourself, sit back, we will analyze everything inside and out.

From theory to practice

So you've decided to do a competitor analysis. Regardless of which criteria you choose as key for yourself (a set of metrics is associated with the identified goals), follow the six basic steps.

Step 1. Selecting competitors for analysis

In most cases, the list of major competitors is well known to the business owner. But it is not always these companies that are your rivals in the online battle: in the virtual space, the list can change significantly. Remember, we are considering the digital segment, so competitors should be evaluated not only by business, but also by achievements in online battles.

How to search for competitors online?

1. We look at product aggregators Yandex.Market, Google Shops, Goods@Mail.Ru, marketplaces TIU, Wikimart, etc.
2. We evaluate business directories, Yandex.Maps, Google Maps, 2GIS, etc.
3. We read reviews on related product items on review sites: Otzovik, Irecommend, Yell, etc.
4. We evaluate the organic and contextual search engine results.
   For this:
   • select 7-10 target queries, look at the demand through the Yandex.Wordstat service;
   • we take the most “fat” requests, that is, those that are in the greatest demand;
   • we evaluate the issue in search engines for each request;
   • we do a cross-analysis, according to the results of which we select the TOP 3 most frequently encountered competitors.
5. We bring business competitors and online competitors into a single file.
6. We select from 3 to 5 competitors for analysis.

Step 2. Evaluation and analysis of the positioning and USP of competitors

Before breaking down the key parameters, answer 2 questions that will help you understand how “catchy” your positioning is:

• What I propose is unique?
• Can a competitor claim otherwise?

Most likely, you answered that you have a wide range, the highest quality, fast delivery, the best staff, etc. Any other company will answer the same way. What is unique about you? No one will say that the quality of their work wants the best and there are problems with delivery. Therefore, when conducting an analysis, you should not only study the standard messages, but also calculate the competitor's unique selling proposition (USP).

So, what we evaluate and enter in the table:

1. The age of the business, taking into account the presence in Russia and abroad.
2. Geography of work.
3. Market share.
4. Are the values ​​for wholesale and retail buyers different (if the business area suggests).
5. Number of staff.
6. We study the sections on the site and / or make a request using the “Mystery Shopper” method to find out the key positioning values. Let's see what the focus is on:
   • features of the company's work (own production, deliveries directly from the manufacturer, a company with a history, a federal network, etc.);
   • goods (quality, assortment, update frequency);
   • customer service (personal manager, convenience of choice, flexible terms of cooperation/purchase);
   • price and quality (cost savings for the best price, high quality at affordable prices, regular policy of discounts and bonuses, etc.).
7. Key clients.
8. The degree of popularity of the product on behalf of the analyzed competitor.
9. Availability of cases.

For more reliable and extended information, you can act “partisanly” and implement the “Mystery Shopper” method: make a call to a competitor, arrange a meeting, or request an individual offer by email.

Step 3. Analysis of the product matrix and pricing policy

Comparative analysis is built in a matrix system. We recommend using this format:

*Cost price is the cost of producing a good or service. In the table, we indicate the base cost in the market, which will allow us to identify the margin of competitors on production costs. If you find it difficult to specify the base cost, you will have to additionally monitor the market in search of the necessary data.
**Minimum price on the market- as a result of comparing the prices of competitors 1,2,3 with our company, we indicate the smallest value.

Based on the results, we determine the most “profitable” players in terms of pricing policy and assortment.

In the analysis, for reliability, we examine not only the goods / services offered by us, but also additional product categories (positions) of competitors. This is necessary in order to identify a quantitative advantage in terms of assortment in the market.

In a comparative analysis, we recommend taking into account not only the actual cost indicated on product cards or price lists, but also assessing what additional parameters are included in the price: delivery, VAT, seasonal discount, sale, etc.

It is important to understand that you yourself determine by what parameters / product categories you will compare the company with competitors. Therefore, analyze your “pains” in advance and choose three of them to start with.

Step 4. Analysis of competitor sites

Site analysis is an important step, since it is on the brand platform that the user receives the most up-to-date information about products / services and makes a decision.

As part of the study, it is necessary to form a matrix that will allow you to identify the strengths / weaknesses of positioning, product categories and opportunities to conveniently and easily make a choice in favor of the seller.

What you need to evaluate on a competitor's website:

• section "About the company", updating the company's news;
• the presence of the "Contacts" section indicating the addresses and telephone numbers of the main office, branches and working hours;
• availability of a catalog of goods and services, filters and sorting options;
• the presence of distributing pages for product categories;
• the presence of product cards indicating the description of the product / service, characteristics, photos, videos, prices;
• the presence of a “Basket” and quick order forms (“One-click order”, “Express order”, etc.)
• availability of feedback forms (online consultant, callback service, pre-order, personal account, etc.);
• the presence of a section with video reviews or instructions;
• the presence of a section with reviews (are there official answers and how communication with users is built);
• the presence of a section or block with a discount policy, special offers, bonus programs;
• the presence of a mobile or adaptive version of the site.

As part of this step, you can also place a test order with a competitor, evaluate the order processing time and the speed of response to applications through feedback forms.

Step 5. Analysis of competitors for online communication with the audience

At this step, we analyze the attendance of competitor sites. To do this, you can use the SimilarWeb service.

The service will allow you to collect statistics on the total traffic to the site and divide it by channel. Thanks to this, you will be able to roughly understand what Internet marketing tools a competitor uses.

1. SEO promotion - we analyze positions for information and category queries, the quality of text content and additional parameters using services: SimilarWeb, SEMrush, CS Yazzle, MegaIndex, RDS Bar, Solomono, Key Collector, etc.
2. Contextual advertising - we identify requests for which competitors conduct their advertising campaigns using the Advse and SpyWords services.
3. Email marketing - subscribe to competitors' newsletters to determine: Services: YouScan, Babkee, IQbuzz, etc. will help with this.
4. Banner advertising - when visiting industry or thematic sites, pay attention to the media advertising surrounding you. There are a lot of varieties of media in modern digital: from Yandex.Display to narrowly segmented classroom purchases. Our task is to evaluate what competitors visually broadcast to the audience, due to which they “cling”, what they show on the banner and which landing pages they lead to.
5. PR-activities - first of all, we evaluate the reputation. There are many ways to get information, we recommend that you study:
   • issuance of search engines for queries containing the name of the company, goods / services, brands with the addition of the request "review";

"Yandex" with Sberbank opened an online store

Sberbank and Yandex have launched a beta version of the Beru online store, RBC reports citing the press service of Yandex.

The new store was launched the other day, I would like to wish it to enter the masses and be in demand, it will be necessary to spend a lot of energy, effort, and budgets on promotion. I like Ozon.ru, it has proven itself better than others today. Whether Beru.ru can become as cool as Ozone, time will show. As long as they experiment with the product grid, look for their niche, they have everything for this. I noticed that delivery is free if the order is over 3500 rubles, I have free delivery today or I can pick up the goods at a convenient place for me. It is clear that you can pay online from Beru.ru, but is it convenient to pick up the goods and where? As long as it's not clear! I hope that within a month they will open pickup points and launch a convenient customer loyalty system. Yandex has the best service and a team that can surely create the best store in Runet and beyond.

In my opinion, after such cooperation, a good online store can turn out. Yandex has no problems with technology, and Sberbank has no problems with money. But this can hit the business of other online stores in Russia hard and change the e-commerce industry in general.

At the moment, the project is known quite a bit, although it has already been dubbed the "Russian Amazon". Earlier, in August 2017, Sberbank and Yandex already announced plans to create a joint marketplace. Then this project was estimated at 60 billion rubles. At the same time, Sberbank invested 30 billion rubles in the project. through the purchase of Yandex.Market shares. The project is a joint marketplace called "Beru", where about 25,000 products are currently available in various categories, ranging from children's goods, electronics and household appliances to household goods and so on. It is assumed that in the next few years the number of commodity items is planned to expand to a million. Currently, the resource is undergoing beta testing, but later it will have applications for Android and iOS operating systems, as well as access directly through the marketplace website. For all users, the services will be available after the official launch, which is scheduled for autumn 2018, the release says. The press service of the company said that the turnover of Beru should reach 500 billion rubles within five years. On the Beru.ru website, where the beta version of the marketplace is located, it is reported that the delivery of goods in Russia will be free for orders over 3,500 rubles. The official launch of the service is scheduled for autumn 2018. After that, the companies intend to attract a partner from Russia or China.