M.Video Is Building the Omninet Platform to Unite Online Storefronts

Analysts assess the project positively. Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline-Analytics, explained that the platform looks promising because its participants are not trying to create yet another multi-category marketplace. Instead, any store can become a trading infrastructure for companies that already have their own audience.

Earlier, M.Video announced the creation of an omnichannel retail media platform for brands and sellers on its own marketplace. Thus, the Omninet project continues the company's course toward developing infrastructure solutions for e-commerce.

The logic of Omninet differs from the classic marketplace model. Each participant keeps its own storefront and audience, while unified technology standards make it possible to exchange product catalogs. A bank, social network, or online store gains the ability to monetize traffic without building its own logistics and assortment from scratch.

For M.Video, the project expands sales channels beyond its own properties. The retailer's products are potentially available on the storefronts of banks, services, and partner stores connected to the platform.

The composition of participants and developers points to the cross-industry nature of the initiative: it includes a home appliances retailer, fashion brand Finn Flare, furniture and home goods seller Hoff, as well as the digital platforms of two major banks.