A new mandate that Russia plans on implementing will force retailers to reserve shelf space for national tech products.
It started with rumors circulating about a bill named “Russian Regiment” being drawn up by the United Russia political party back in May to push large quantities of Russian products.
Since then, the Kommersant, a Russian daily newspaper, published an article about the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade pushing toward rapidly increasing the sales of Russian technology. The article used anonymous sources, so while it shouldn’t be taken as gospel yet, it’s most likely true.
Another article from the Kommersant features an interview with Andrei Belousov where the speaker more than hints at the consolidation of Russian tech as he explains why he believes their economy will reach an equilibrium.
“The third area of investment will become the main one,” Belousov explains. “It requires not only the renewal of the production apparatus, but also the consolidation of certain competencies, for example, in the use of digital technologies.”
This new mandate would apply whether you’re using a digital storefront or a traditional brick-and-mortar business. As various experts have pointed out, this will largely impact digital stores.
Russian tech is largely made up of appliances like stoves, washers, and dryers, fridges, and freezers, so ideally requiring vendors to display these appliances first should boost sales.
However, not every expert agrees.
For example, the President of the Association of Internet Trading Companies, Artyom Sokolov, believes it could hurt Russian retailers by annoying customers.
“If a customer seeks to purchase an iPhone and the first 50 search results offer items meeting legal requirements rather than what matches their request, the customer will likely leave the site,” he says.
Frustrating customers like that may leave a bad taste in their mouths (so to speak), resulting in them not purchasing your product in the future, even if it might be exactly what they need.
Assuming it’s true, more details about the mandate will be revealed in time.