Nowadays, it has become very popular to shop online. Every now and then there are a variety of sites designed to make life easier for people and to purchase the right thing by pressing a couple of buttons. One of these sites is Tatiana Bakalchuk's Wildberries. How did she get this idea and how did her life turn out earlier?
Short biography of Tatyana Bakalchuk
Tatyana does not like to talk about herself. Little is known about her. She was born in the seventy-fifth year, on the sixteenth of October. Belongs to those who can be called "Russian Koreans" - by origin Tatyana Bakalchuk (pictured below) is Korean, but was born, raised and continues to live in Russia.
After graduation, she entered the social and humanitarian institute of the capital, completed her studies successfully. By education - an English teacher. Before the advent of the business, she was additionally engaged in tutoring. Happy in marriage, Tatyana Bakalchuk’s husband Vladislav, a radio physicist by profession, also works with his wife. The family grows up three children.
Crucial moment
The first founder of Wildberry, Tatyana Bakalchuk, became a mother four years after the beginning of the new century. She went on maternity leave. Incomes in the family decreased, and expenses, on the contrary, even increased. At one time, Tatyana tried to earn extra money by tutoring, but she soon realized that this was impossible with a tiny child in her arms: her daughter often cried, demanded attention to herself, Tatyana's students were nervous, could not concentrate. It was then that the girl understood: something needs to be changed. The first thing that occurred to her was to start her own online business.
Idea and title
Having made this fateful decision, it remains only to decide on the idea of the business itself - what exactly to do? Here Tatyana also did not think for a long time - being a young girl with a baby in her arms, always in business and with minimal free time, she knew from herself how difficult it was to find a watch for shopping. In addition, she, like many other women, was always annoyed by the attention of consultants who strenuously offered their help. But with all this, rarely does any girl deny herself the pleasure of acquiring a new thing! That is why Tatyana Vladimirovna Bakalchuk decided: she will sell clothes.
All friends were against such an initiative. They said that this was a big risk for both the seller and the buyer - after all, clothes should be tried on, no one would buy a pig in a poke. But Tatyana’s husband Vladislav supported her - and later Tatyana admitted that everything worked out precisely because he was next to her from the very beginning.
Bakalchukov decided to call her own shop Wildberries (literally translated from English as “wild berries” or “forest berries”). Such a name immediately came to Tatyana’s head and was dictated by the desire to wean women to buy clothes in black, gloomy tones.
Beginning of work
The financial possibilities of the young family at that time were extremely limited, so the initial idea of purchasing clothes from foreign distributors failed miserably: they wanted an advance payment, and Bakalchuki could not afford it. It was then that Tatyana remembered the quite popular catalogs of German clothing Otto and Quelle - they were sold in our country exclusively through agents who worked with prepayment and took a fee of fifteen percent. Tatyana and Vladislav made a tricky move: they made a reward five percent less and refused to take an advance payment from customers. Some time was spent on developing the site and placing an advertising banner on the Internet. According to the recognition of the spouses, they themselves did not wait for instant feedback. But a miracle happened: on the very first day they received several orders.
So what is next…
And then everything spun by itself. Orders arrived one by one. At first, Tatyana herself went for the packages. The whole apartment of Bakalchuk was packed with boxes - but gradually an understanding came: it was necessary to expand. A year after the start, the couple registered Wildberries LLC, rented a small room and hired the first staff: couriers, operators and programmers.
In 2006, Tatyana Bakalchuk decided to try direct cooperation with foreign manufacturers, abandoning catalogs. They took pictures of their own female employees, but the quality of the pictures left much to be desired, which caused dissatisfaction with customers. Tatyana took into account the mistakes - this is how Wildberry came up with its own photo studio and professional equipment.
Tatyana and Vladislav immediately decided that customers from outside Moscow should also have an affordable opportunity to purchase goods on their website. It was for this purpose that they established a single shipping cost regardless of the region’s range — it amounted to three hundred rubles. After some time, delivery generally became free for most areas - which, of course, affected the growth of customers. "Wildberry" Tatyana Bakalchuk became more successful, as they say, "got up" is getting stronger every day. This was partly due to the marketing ideas of the spouses, and partly due to a fairly small competition in the market (compared to today).
Feature of the store Wildberries Tatyana Bakalchuk
In addition to the above, Wildberry has had one peculiarity from the very beginning of its existence, which has helped a lot in attracting clients. It is about the possibility of trying on clothes. Tatyana was the first to offer a similar service to her customers. Recalling the warnings of her acquaintances, who claimed a "pig in a poke, " she decided that customers have the right to try on things ordered for free - and return them if something does not meet expectations.
At first, trying on clothes was only possible at home - when the courier delivered it. But it was not always convenient (in addition, they often ordered packages to the office), and then the Bakalchuk opened the first pick-up centers in which they put the fitting rooms. Such a service made a splash. There were no more clients as an example - but the number of failures, respectively, was also the same: it amounted to about half of the total number. Bakalchuk answered (and continues to answer now) to all comments that this is unprofitable, that it is impossible to do without such a service.
Promotion
The financial crisis that happened during this time led to the ruin of many companies. But he only played into the hands of Tatyana and Vladislav: it was at this time that their company made the first direct deal with the manufacturer. At the famous company Adidas, the demand for products fell sharply, the warehouses were filled with shoes. Tatyana acquired more than three thousand pairs from them - and in a couple of years she sold everything. Also, it was during the crisis that Tatyana Bakalchuk’s company was enriched by several new employees - there were reductions, people were left without work, and Tatyana and Vladislav intensely expanded their staff.
At the same time, Wildberry has settled in a new place - they have a new office in the suburbs. Tatyana and Vladislav quickly understood the idea of most of their competitors: they collaborated with foreign suppliers. Bakalchuk, on the other hand, began to work with Russian small-scale intermediaries, with whom it was much easier to negotiate than with foreigners. Thus, Wildberry has a product that has not been found on any other website in the country. Eight years after its launch, Tatyana Bakalchuk’s store site was the first in terms of traffic in Russia - it overtook even the then sales leader, the Ozon store.
Regions
As mentioned above, in many ways the target audience of Wildberry is precisely the regions. Company executives did (and are) doing everything in order to attract as many customers from the regions as possible. Tatyana notes that she herself traveled to provincial cities and was convinced that her project was very popular. Even in remote Vladivostok, which seemed to be bordering China, women willingly purchase clothes through the store of Tatyana and Vladislav.
In addition to the Russian regions, Wildberry has also entered the market of our neighbors: Tatyana and Vladislav work in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus. And this is far from the limit of their plans and capabilities.
Figures
If we talk about statistics, then they are undoubtedly impressive. So, five years ago, about twelve million people visited the site of Tatyana Bakalchuk every month and made about three hundred and fifty thousand orders. To date, the number of visitors per month has increased to seventeen million, and the number of purchases remains in the region of eighteen thousand daily. Other numbers are no less interesting:
- The company has more than three thousand employees.
- Two years ago, the company's revenue was about thirty billion rubles.
- Last year, Wildberry took first place in online sales in our country: they amounted to more than forty-five billion rubles.
- The company has more than six hundred pick-up points equipped with fitting rooms.
- Forty percent of orders are taken by customers themselves, one percent is delivered by Russian post, couriers deliver everything else.
- The number of sales in Moscow is approximately thirty percent of the total.
- The store features more than eight hundred thousand of the most diverse models of goods from five thousand different brands.
- At the beginning of this year, Tatyana Bakalchuk's company ranked fourth in the list of the most expensive Russian Internet firms.
- The average store check fluctuates around two and a half - three thousand rubles.
Present
At the end of last year, Tatyana Bakalchuk became one of the three richest and most successful women in our country. To come to such a phenomenal success from an ordinary teacher of English, as the woman herself believes, she was allowed several decisions that were made correctly in time. So, in connection with the change in the financial capabilities of buyers, things of various price categories have appeared in the store recently - you can buy a blouse for a thousand rubles, or maybe, say, for three hundred. In addition, the company has expanded its range: now Wildberry sells not only clothes and shoes, but also books, household goods, appliances and so on. Such universal sites are very popular in Europe, gradually this trend reaches our country. In addition, of course, the very first decisions made a great contribution to the development of the company - the organization of free fitting and free delivery to various regions.
At the same time, Tatyana Bakalchuk notes that due to customer abuse, they “cover up” some services, for example, the possibility of an unlimited return of goods. Gradually reducing, now it was brought to a three-week period, and the number of returns immediately decreased. Tatyana does not hide that the company's profit is quite high, but does not want to give the exact amount. Interestingly, the woman refused the offer to buy the company by foreign entrepreneurs.
Difference of Wildberries from other companies
If in the beginning of the two thousandth such online stores in our country there were almost none, now they are more than enough. For buyers to come exactly to your site, you need to stand out. The founder of Wildberry, Tatyana Bakalchuk (pictured above), in general, is doing pretty well.
The first difference of her company from others is that, as mentioned above, they set different price categories for the different capabilities of their customers. One more thing - in a reasonable approach to money spending: Wildberry does not spend money on what their competitors do (for example, on outdoor advertising). The team of the company was also correctly selected - these are mainly specialists who have “grown up” within its walls and are real professionals in their field. There are no walls in the office, all employees are in one large room, which contributes to faster interaction and work.
Another undoubted difference between Wildberry and other companies is the absence of a board of directors. Tatyana Bakalchuk emphasizes that the style of her store is democratic, which is confirmed by a small number of heads of various departments. Thanks to this, the system of work is quite simple. Employees regularly monitor the number of visits and orders on the site (there are special buttons for this), and if it is less than a day or a week ago, they immediately come up with various promotions and discounts - this increases customer interest. In addition, Wildberry has a completely transparent relationship with suppliers - all sales analytics are available to the company's partners.
Work and office location
Wildberry’s office is located in the suburbs of Moscow, not far from the Moscow Ring Road — only twenty kilometers away. More than four hundred people work there, most of whom have been with the company almost from the day it was founded. Many newcomers come, but a huge number of them do not stay long in the company - the whole thing is an irregular working day and a rather tight schedule: each employee must be in his place for at least eight hours, otherwise part of the salary will be removed from him. Some employees also work on weekends: a special schedule has been drawn up for this.
A fingerprint scanner is located at the entrance to the office, preventing outsiders from entering the premises. Negotiations with partners are taking place here, and I must say that their flow is quite high.
