Fix Price in Russia set to expand throughout Europe

Similar to the ‘pound shop’ idea that has been seen in the UK and US in recent years, Russia has launched their own version called Fix Price and this has now been experiencing growth beyond expectations. After opening a new outlet in neighbouring Georgia, they have now announced plans to spread throughout much of Eastern Europe.

As mentioned, the Georgia outlet is now running and the next step is set to be Kazakhstan with a target of opening before the end of the year. For many, the first step of expansion in Georgia was a huge surprise given the history between the two countries but the second step of Kazakhstan is perhaps less of a surprise.

Along with Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Armenia, Kazakhstan is in the Eurasian Customs Union which means that Fix Price will have no problem accessing the market. If history is anything to go by, Fix Price will find it just as easy as opening a new outlet at home because spending patterns and consumer preferences in Kazakhstan tend to be rather similar to Russia.

After the Kazakhstan outlet has opened, the next target after that is said to be Armenia before spreading outside of the ECU countries to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Again, the Baltic States have very similar consumer preferences and patterns to Russia which is why they are being targeted immediately. Furthermore, the region has commercial promises widely available and there could be opportunities for franchising. As they are all EU members, the future could also hold a distribution centre to bring the company closer to the consumer.

So far, there are over 2,000 Fix Price outlets within Russia which is second only to Euroshop when considering the ‘pound shop’ industry. Opening thirteen brand new stores in Russia, the German giants Euroshop are now providing competition for Fix Price at home.

Just recently, Fix Price trademark registered the brand across the entirety of Europe as well as many former USSR territories. With this in mind, it is clear to see that they have aspirations much bigger than Russia alone. Currently, the Russian market is extremely tough with other companies such as Magnit and Dixi all battling for market share. For this reason, Fix Price’s strategy to expand now could prove to be a good one.

As well as those we have already mentioned, we have also seen the rise of Zaodno in recent years which near enough modelled their company on Fix Price and are now reaping the rewards. With Oskar Hartmann at the helm, entrepreneur from German who was responsible for KupiVIP which went on to become one of Russia’s largest shopping clubs, Zaodno opened ten stores a month last year alone within Russia’s largest cities.