Representatives of major marketplaces operating in Kazakhstan took part in the Astana International Trade Forum as guests of the session “CEO Talks: Retail Leaders – Course for 2025”. During the discussion, they shared insights into what their platforms currently offer to Kazakhstani users.

Chingiz Sher, representative of Alibaba in Central Asia (China), encouraged Kazakhstani manufacturers to test their products on Alibaba before targeting the markets of China and South Asia.

“Alibaba provides very accessible opportunities for manufacturers to test where and to whom they can sell their products. You just need to join the platform and start working,” said Chingiz Sher at the Astana International Trade Forum.

Kazbek Kuzhimov, Director of Corporate Affairs at Wildberries Kazakhstan, spoke about how the platform adapts to local consumer needs.

“Currently, around 120,000 sellers on Wildberries are Kazakhstani residents. According to our estimates, the construction of our own logistics centers in Astana and Almaty contributes to regional economic growth by up to 5% on average. This is a significant figure for a single infrastructure facility.
We are constantly introducing new services, expanding opportunities, providing training, and attracting new sellers,” said Kazbek Kuzhimov.

In addition, Wildberries is actively developing new services for Kazakhstani entrepreneurs and improving the user experience for buyers.

“We are continuously testing and implementing new services for sellers from Kazakhstan. Recently, express delivery by the seller and home delivery have become available. It is now possible to order fresh flower bouquets, groceries, large furniture and appliances – all delivered within a short time.
Currently, we are also localizing our website and app into the Kazakh language – about two million product cards have already been translated, and the work continues,” he added.

Moldir Rysaliyeva, Chairperson of the Management Board at Halyk Finservice (operator of the Halyk Market marketplace), spoke about the role of personalized marketing.

“Personalized marketing can reduce customer acquisition costs by up to 50%. We have a department we call the ‘Data Factory’ that analyzes customer behavior in depth – where they are, how they spend money, which categories they prefer. For example, if you're at the airport, you might receive an SMS reminder to purchase travel insurance. If you’re at a shopping mall, we’ll remind you to pay for parking.
In the same way, we use personalized marketing to offer relevant product categories to users who are actively searching for them,” said Moldir Rysaliyeva.