Itella tests complete cross-border e-commerce solution

Finnish postal service Itella is now testing a new all-in-one cross-border e-commerce service targeted at Russian consumers. The company is piloting its service over the next month with interior design products and accessories retailer Balmuir.

The new service sees Itella providing an online store for Balmuir directed specifically at Russian consumers.

Itella will also market the products involved in the trial, handle the order fulfillment, product warehousing and logistics, as well as customs clearance.

The postal company said its first orders have already been delivered to Russian customers.

Aku Happo, Itella’s vice president of e-commerce, said the new concept aimed to lower the threshold for European businesses to tap into the Russian market.

“Russian e-commerce has many special requirement in relation to customs clearance, the language barrier and so on,” he said.

“The idea of our concept is to manage online trade across the border as an overall service, whereupon companies can focus their efforts on their core competency.”

Itella said e-commerce is growing in Russia at annual rates of 20-30%. The company currently uses local operators to handle the transport of products in Russia.

Russia is already one of Balmuir’s largest export markets, but the potential is still “extensive”.

Juha Jaara, the sales director at Balmuir, said: “Russia has a long-standing tradition of gift culture, and an appreciation of high-quality products. This project combines many interesting elements — we get more experience of the market and local consumer behaviour, new sales, and feedback on the functions of the online store.”