Wildberries launches a messenger

      The company plans to launch its own messenger. As reported by the newspaper "Kommersant," the company has registered several dozen domain names, including wb-messenger.ru, chat-wb.ru, and чат-вб.рф. In the LLC "RVB" (a joint structure of Wildberries and Russ), the publication confirmed that the service is already being tested internally, and the registration of domains is related to the legal protection of trademarks.

      The company noted that in creating the product, they are using the experience of developing a corporate messenger and existing communication solutions of the marketplace. Earlier, in June, Wildberries head Tatyana Kim announced a test launch of the messenger for employees with plans to scale it first to the Russian market and then to foreign markets.

      Experts link this decision to the current situation in the market. Director of the Institute of Modern Media Kirill Tanaev pointed out the restrictions on Telegram's operations in Russia, EU sanctions against VK, and the removal of applications, including Max, from the App Store and Google Play. In his opinion, this motivates platforms to create their own services, and for part of the audience, such a product may become an interesting offer. "Kommersant" also notes that in the second quarter, the demand among Russians for foreign messengers increased by 26% compared to the first.

      As for the timelines and budget, expert estimates vary. Director of SMM and ORM at the PR Partner communication agency Damir Feyzulov believes that a basic version of the messenger based on existing authorization, notification, and payment systems can be prepared in 6–12 months. However, creating a full-fledged product with audio and video calls, channels, file transfer, encryption, and protection against high loads will require at least 1.5–2 years of continuous development. He estimates investments in such a project, including infrastructure, security, team, and promotion, at 2–5 billion rubles over several years.

      Head of the infrastructure IT solutions protection group at Gazinformservice Sergey Polunin notes that implementing end-to-end encryption, protecting accounts from hijacking, anti-fraud systems, and combating spam requires years of investment and the formation of an information security culture. He also points out that Wildberries periodically appears in incidents involving fraudsters and hacks of personal accounts. The company has the technical resources, but, according to him, user trust will need to be earned separately.

      Product manager at AppSec Solutions Nikita Pinaev adds that against the backdrop of difficulties in including Russian messengers in official app stores, similar risks may arise for Wildberries' future product.

      According to Damir Feyzulov, the Wildberries messenger should be viewed not as just another copy of Telegram or Max, but as a communication tool within its own ecosystem. The company already has a large audience—buyers, sellers, couriers, employees, and pickup point owners who need to communicate. He believes that launching a universal messenger in the federal market is more challenging than launching a service within the marketplace. In the first year, when integrated into the main scenarios of the platform, the product could gather 5–10 million monthly users. However, its share of the overall messenger market will likely remain "single-digit" (insignificant), while the number of installations may significantly exceed the actual daily audience.