Marketplaces: Platforms or Trade? In Search of Regulatory Models

E-commerce once again demonstrated significant growth over the past year: turnover increased by 38% (to RUB 7.9 trillion), while the number of orders grew by 60% (to 4.5 billion orders). According to various estimates, almost every fifth product in Russia is purchased online. Much of this growth is being driven by marketplaces – service platforms where millions of buyers can meet hundreds of thousands of sellers. Marketplaces let people buy almost any product from anywhere in Russia and have it delivered within a reasonable timeframe. Sellers can peddle their wares regardless of where they are located. At the same time, the rapid growth in marketplaces is attracting more and more attention from the government, which has begun searching for models to regulate marketplaces in 2024. What failures of marketplaces should the government correct and how can this be done so as to provide a new impetus to e-commerce?