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SIBUR has launched the English version of eshop.sibur

SIBUR’s Digital Lab is helping to break into new markets.

SIBUR’s e-commerce platform now has an English language version targeting European audiences. The project has a lot of potential according to its authors, as it will attract customers from all over the world and will help to ascertain the demand for such services from Asian partners.

The launch of the new electronic platform will attract more European customers and boost brand recognition, and when orders really start to roll in, it will help to reduce transaction costs

The eshop.sibur.ru platform was launched in 2019 and immediately proved to be an excellent sales tool; at the moment it accounts for more than 75% of total orders. The decision to roll out the e-commerce site to the European market was taken just a year later. This required SIBUR Digital to solve a number of challenges.

Alexander Teplinsky, SIBUR manager for business development and new technologies, explained: “In Russia, it was very easy to immediately establish ourselves amongst the top, as here there are few major companies that can boast an e-commerce platform. But in Europe the situation is different. There is a lot of competition, own successful platforms, and more demanding audiences with consumers who are sophisticated users of various services. So we had been preparing for quite a long time, and towards the end of 2020 we launched the first pilot phase, which was not yet for customers, but for SIBUR International front managers. We asked them to go through the entire customer journey with actual orders, and from this we received a large amount of feedback. Firstly, additional requirements for the localisation of the interface and solutions, and secondly, suggestions for taking European specifics into account.”

European customers have their own requirements for platform features. In Russia, for example, there are often only two delivery options: pickup or delivery. In Europe, the client also needs to be given a choice of insurance, transfer of ownership terms, etc. After the new platform was refined to incorporate these specifics, the English version of eshop.sibur was ready to welcome its first customers in early May. On the face of it, it does not differ from the Russian version; however, it has its own specific features.

“When planning the development of new features, we focus not only on following trends but also on addressing customer needs identified through feedback. Accordingly, the Russian and European versions have different sets of available services,” explained Alexander Teplinsky. “For example, the Russian e-commerce site offers an option to take a loan from Sberbank to pay for an order. This option is clearly not relevant for SIBUR International customers, so this set of features will be different. In any case, following the full launch we will pilot additional services related to logistics, finance, etc.”

The launch of the new electronic platform will attract more European customers and boost brand recognition, and when orders really start to roll in, it will help to reduce transaction costs by eliminating unnecessary communications and providing the client with all required information via their personal account.

“The European version of the e-commerce platform is not limited by geography: we can attract customers to our site from anywhere in the world, if its features are available in English. However, we are planning a survey of Asian customers to receive feedback from them as well. Based on this feedback, we will decide on whether to create a specific version for the Asian region as well,” said Sergey Serebryanyk, SIBUR Digital product owner.


SIBUR International SIBUR Digital online development

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