Following the news that major Russian marketplaces would begin to engage in the supply of appliances and other goods to the country on their own, information about a similar initiative on the part of retailers appeared. Svyaznoy was the first of the major market players to resort to parallel imports. However, it became known what this means for consumers.
Representatives of “Svyaznoy” told the publication “Kommersant” that the company began to import into the country on parallel import of more than 100 product items, including tablets, laptops, smart watches, game consoles and other products. In particular, we are talking about Samsung smartphones and smart watches, current models of the iPhone, as well as PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo consoles. According to experts, such goods may be 10-20% more expensive than those that were imported officially. This is due not only to the new delivery scheme, but also to higher prices for electronics in general. Alexei Vukolov, president of Svyaznoy, noted that the goods imported through official channels will be enough for another two or three months.
It is noted that “Svyaznoy” provides an official guarantee for the equipment imported through parallel imports. Additionally, it is pointed out that only goods intended for the EEU countries are selected, so there should be no problems with their activation. As before, the warranty service will be performed by the service center, but if before all the costs were borne by the manufacturer, in this case the distributor pays.