From May 13 to 15, Almaty hosted the 21st International Convention World of Trade — a key industry event for representatives of retail, manufacturers, suppliers, and IT experts from Central Asia and the CIS.
More than 70 supplier companies took part in the event, representing FMCG products, retail equipment, and technology solutions. During two days of the World of Trade Purchasing Center, suppliers held negotiations with 86 buyers in both offline and online formats. Participants included retail chains, marketplaces, and grocery delivery services from Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Major retail chains took part in the negotiations: Magnum, Small, Inmart, Dina, Ayan from Kazakhstan; Magnit, Komandor, Samberi, Nakhodka, Pobeda from Russia; Sosedy from Belarus; Korzinka, Baraka Market, Uzum Market from Uzbekistan; and grocery delivery services such as Yandex Lavka.
The business program of the 21st World of Trade Convention focused on retail transformation amid an unstable macro environment and adapting to changing consumer behavior and expectations.
One of the key events was a strategic session with Angela Ryabova, CEO of V1 (First Choice), Magnit Group (Russia); Zafar Khashimov, Founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Korzinka (Uzbekistan); Gabit Jamambaev, CEO of Mechta Market (Kazakhstan); Andrey Poddanets, Founder of Inmart (Kazakhstan); Daniel Kim, Director of Airba Fresh (Kazakhstan); and Azamat Shaismailov, Co-founder of Eeeng YQN (Uzbekistan).
According to top retail executives, one key trend in modern retail is the rapid blurring of boundaries between formats — hypermarkets, supermarkets, and discounters. Today, consumers make purchasing decisions based on the best offer, regardless of the store type. This trend requires retailers to be flexible and adapt their assortment, pricing policies, and customer service.
“The trend we rely on when building our discounter chain is rational consumption and quality. We realized that 1,000 SKUs are enough to create a quality shopping basket. Therefore, our key metric is ‘accuracy in meeting consumer needs,’ measured by sales per SKU. If we understand customer needs correctly, there is no need to keep a wide shelf with dozens of similar products — instead, we offer an accurate choice. The First Choice. This is the most important factor in building a discounter model in the market,” noted Angela Ryabova, CEO of V1 (First Choice), Magnit Group (Russia), during the panel discussion.
Another key trend in retail is digital transformation, which requires significant investment from companies.
“The potential of technology in store management, logistics, and other areas is enormous. But it must be implemented wisely, with clear priorities. Often, this is missing. As a result, management gets lost in tactical decisions. You have to stop, return to strategic questions, and define priorities. Before choosing and implementing a solution, you need to understand how you will integrate it into your business, what results you expect, and in what timeframe. It could be process simplification, increased transparency, or financial results — but all of this must be defined in advance,” said Zafar Khashimov, Founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Korzinka (Uzbekistan).
Several sessions of the World of Trade Convention were dedicated to retail technologies. During these sessions, experts presented IT and AI tools that are already proving effective in retail operations and solving strategic business challenges.
A special session was held for suppliers with representatives of leading retail chains: Magnum from Kazakhstan; Baraka Market and Korzinka from Uzbekistan; Amid and Paykar from Tajikistan; and the grocery delivery service Yandex Lavka from Kazakhstan. The discussion focused on the standards that suppliers need to adapt to in order to remain competitive and develop long-term partnerships with retail chains.
“Person of the Convention” sessions were a highlight of the business program. Zafar Khashimov, Founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Korzinka supermarket chain (Uzbekistan), and Angela Ryabova, CEO of V1 (First Choice), Magnit Group (Russia), shared their stories, experiences, and views on business. Open dialogues, honest answers to difficult questions, and practical cases made these presentations among the most memorable events of the Convention.
A practical workshop “A Fresh Look at Assortment and Pricing Management in Retail” by Gulphira Krok, an expert in category management and pricing, concluded the business program of the World of Trade Convention.
On May 15, two practical store tours were organized for Convention participants to Airba Fresh and Carefood. This was a unique opportunity to see modern retail formats in action, including approaches to merchandising, assortment policies, and customer engagement.
“We strive to include the most relevant topics that truly matter to the market. It is important to us that every participant of the World of Trade Convention finds not only answers to their professional questions but also practical value. However, our main goal is creating a platform for direct dialogue between suppliers and buyers. Our experience shows that such meetings become the foundation for strong partnerships and launch long-term cooperation that benefits both sides,” emphasized Elena Sargaldakova, organizer of the World of Trade Convention.
The next meeting of retailers and suppliers will take place on October 16–18 in Almaty.
Organizing Committee contacts: Mob/WhatsApp/Telegram +7 707 207 7001, info@eximexpo.kz.
