Activities of the largest marketplaces in Russia and China: theory and practice

The development of technology and the introduction of digital solutions have opened new opportunities to reconsider approaches to doing business. Companies are using new forms of work, including online operations, optimization of business processes and boost the efficiency of their activities through automation, analysis of Big Data, implementation of cloud platforms, electronic document management and the use of artificial intelligence. This sort of transformations has led to the emergence of new business models based on digital technologies, as well as platform and ecosystem solutions, which have become a prerequisite for the development of new market participants, for example, marketplaces. The study examines the theoretical aspects of the development of digital platforms based on the provisions of key theories and also analyzes the results of the activities of the five largest Russian marketplaces in the market of goods and services in Russia. Considering that companies themselves publish primarily financial statements data in the public domain, trends in their work have to be assessed on the basis of reports from news agencies and extremely condensed press releases of companies. The authors highlight the main results and activities of Russian companies Wildberries, Ozon, Megamarket, Yandex Market and Avito and the Chinese ones - Taobao, JD.com and Pinduoduo at the present stage. It has been revealed that the rapid growth of e-commerce, on the one hand, leads to the optimization and acceleration of trade transactions, the involvement of a larger number of sellers and consumers in commercial activities, and the introduction of new technological and management solutions. On the other hand, new risks arise which are associated with market monopolization and the growing influence of digital platforms on consumer preferences and, thus, increasing the impact of company activities on market mechanisms. To address those challenges, timely and comprehensive state regulation of the activities of digital platforms in Russia is needed. In this regard the experience of the People’s Republic of China as one of the world leaders in the field of e-commerce is crucial for Russian regulators.