The Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries has slashed payments to its network of pickup point owners by a quarter last year even as it expanded the total number of such outlets by 43 percent, a stark illustration of the platform’s post-merger cost discipline. Agent fees fell to 10.1 billion roubles in 2025, according to company filings, despite the count of pickup points reaching 94,000. The parent company, Wildberries & Russ, attributed the discrepancy to reduced marketing spending on partner acquisition and a shift towards large-scale network operators who manage dozens of locations each.

Viewed from Moscow, the squeeze on small entrepreneurs is no accident. The simultaneous proliferation of new pickup points has cannibalised the revenue of existing ones, a pattern familiar to anyone who has watched Amazon’s relationship with its delivery partners. From a business perspective, Wildberries is rationalising a network it inherited after its 2023 merger with Russ Outdoor. But the immediate human cost is felt by thousands of micro-franchisees who now face thinner margins. Analysts in London have noted that the move mirrors a global trend: platforms aiming for profitability often tighten terms for the last mile, even as they trumpet network growth.

Yet there is another side to this story. In December 2024, Wildberries began listing products from VkusVill, a premium grocery chain known for fresh and organic goods. The partnership operates under an express-window model, with VkusVill handling storage, picking and delivery while Wildberries provides the platform and digital storefront. Initially limited to Moscow and parts of the region, the service is set to expand. This is not a charity; it is a calculated bid to capture higher-value transactions from affluent urbanites who might otherwise use Yandex Market or local specialised apps.

The contrast between these two developments reveals the shape of Wildberries’ strategy: brutal optimisation on one front, selective investment on another. The question for the coming year is whether the platform’s growing bargaining power will suffocate the very retailers and pickup-point owners that fuelled its rise, or whether a new equilibrium will emerge as network operators consolidate and scale. Regulators in Moscow are watching closely, and any further downturn in small-business sentiment could invite political pushback. For now, however, the logic of platform economics remains unforgiving. The road to profitability runs straight through a thinning margin.