Advertisers are slashing their ad budgets on Wildberries after a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on the company’s warehouses, the Kommersant business newspaper reported Wednesday, citing sources at major ad agencies.
From June to July, ad tracking firm Digital Budget said spending on direct banner ads on Wildberries plummeted 63%.
A source told Kommersant that many advertisers had either frozen their promotional budgets or sharply cut back across major retail categories, including electronics, household appliances and pharmaceuticals.
Meanwhile, average ad prices fell by up to 15% as product availability fell. Analysts explained that advertising becomes ineffective when sellers run out of stock or face delivery delays.
Wildberries acknowledged lower ad activity on its platform but insisted that the extent of the decline was exaggerated.
