CEBE study on marketplace regulation: Russian and international experience

In July 2025, Russia became one of the world's jurisdictions that specifically regulate the activities of digital platforms, including marketplaces in e-commerce. This was facilitated by the adoption of the Federal Law “On Certain Issues of Regulating the Platform Economy in the Russian Federation.”

Features of the adopted law:

1. Regulation does not focus exclusively on specific types of platforms but covers “intermediary digital platforms” as a generic category and regulates the relationships of operators of such platforms with partners (sellers of goods, service providers), users (e.g., consumers), and other persons in connection with the sale of goods, performance of work, and provision of services.
2. The law provides solutions to general problems of the platform market concerning contractual interaction between the platform and its partners, changes in the terms of cooperation (contracts) on the part of the platform, the procedure for accessing the platform and communication, the provision of information by the platform, the application of liability measures (sanctions) by the platform in relation to partners, and the procedure for considering complaints and resolving disputes on the platform.
3. The law focuses on control over the admission and sale of goods on marketplaces – the need to reflect information on the confirmation of compliance of goods with technical regulations, the fulfillment of requirements for labeling and state registration, which obliges marketplaces to check product offers and prevent violations. Moreover, categories of goods are separately identified, the placement of which the marketplace should not allow.
4. The identification of specific types of “intermediary digital platforms” within a single systemic act is another feature of the adopted domestic regulation. The adopted version of the law highlights the specific features of marketplaces and employment platforms, and some issues inherent in their activities have been given special solutions.
5. Marketplaces will be subject to new requirements regarding, for example, rules on control over the admission and sale of goods on marketplaces (the need to reflect information on confirmation of compliance of goods with technical regulations, fulfillment of requirements for labeling and state registration), rules on setting discounts on goods, and logistics infrastructure. Employment platforms, in turn, will be able to cooperate with contractors within the civil law framework, inform partners about opportunities to strengthen social protection, and exercise certain control over the activities of employees.

The Russian Law on the Platform Economy largely complies with international legislation on marketplaces. Both in Russia and in the foreign countries analyzed, the state introduces conceptual apparatus into legislation for the convenience of the regulator. Following the best practices of foreign countries (e.g., the EU, China, Turkey), Russia is building regulation around a systemic law on digital platforms and their relationships with partners.

The regulation established in the Platform Economy Law, like foreign regulation, focuses on the relationships between the main counterparties of marketplaces. In particular, rules have been established on the conclusion and terms of contracts (e.g., EU, India, Turkey), the procedure for amending contracts and notifying partners (e.g., EU, China, Turkey), the application of liability measures (e.g., EU, China, Turkey), and the procedure for applying discounts (e.g., India, China, Turkey).

Unlike foreign laws, the Russian Platform Economy Law regulates relations with PZ owners, cooperation with whom is characteristic only of Russian platforms. Another feature of Russian legislation is that the system-forming law on digital platforms regulates not only relations with sellers, but also relations with platform workers.

By the time the Platform Economy Law was adopted, designed to solve a number of problems in the activities of marketplaces and respond to the needs of various stakeholders, the following picture of the market and the experience of interaction between partners and consumers with platforms had emerged in Russia:

In 2024, the four largest Russian marketplaces — Wildberries, Ozon, Yandex Market, and Megamarket — accounted for 80% of all online orders (>5 billion items), with monopolistic trends in the form of a growing combined share of Wildberries and Ozon: In 2024, these marketplaces accounted for 77% of all online orders, and their market share was estimated at 53-57%.

For sellers, marketplaces provide an opportunity to sell goods throughout Russia, regardless of the location of the company and production (24% of sellers operate mainly in the regions of the Central District, 10% in the North Caucasus Federal District, and the remaining regions account for 11% each), and to sell goods in various categories, among which the most popular are clothing, footwear, and accessories (sold by 39% of entrepreneurs), food and beverages (19%), cosmetics and perfumes (16%). As for the owners of order pickup points (OPPs), at least 10% of such owners are located in each of the eight federal districts of Russia (18% operate mainly in the regions of the Central Federal District, 15% in the Volga Federal District, and the remaining federal districts account for 10% to 13%). At the same time, 42% of POE owners manage a small network of 2-3 pickup points, 38% of owners manage one POE, and one in five has a large network of 4 or more POEs.

Among the top five reasons for entering marketplaces, sellers cite the speed and ease of launching sales compared to other channels (38%), the simple way of doing business (33%), the opportunity to enter the federal market (24%), the desire to keep up with competitors (24%), and simplified logistics, allowing them to focus on production and marketing (23%). In turn, the incentives for opening a PVZ are the opportunity to earn high (54%) and passive (39%) income, the opportunity to try a new activity (37%) or start an entrepreneurial activity (27%), open your own business, and fulfill yourself as an entrepreneur (26%).

Among the advantages of working with marketplaces in Russia, partner sellers note the top 5 as market expansion (40%), a large flow of orders (39%), simplified logistics (32%), low costs for cooperation (29%), and the security and convenience of accepting payments (29%). On the other hand, there are also disadvantages (top 5): high competition with other sellers (31%), high sales commissions (30%), high product returns (23%), imposition of discounts (22%), and the risk of fines (22%).

At the same time, marketplaces in Russia play a significant role in the lives of consumers: the inability to make purchases on a marketplace can worsen the personal situation and the situation of family members of every third buyer (30%). Among the reasons for the deterioration of the situation are the inability to purchase necessary goods, purchases at higher prices, reduced choice, reduced convenience, and increased time costs, etc. At the same time, when determining the value of marketplaces, buyers pay attention to the integrity of goods upon delivery, price levels on the platforms, the convenience of returning goods, the completeness of information about the goods, the cost of delivery, the convenience of the location of pickup points, etc.