Marketplaces as Leverage: How Ukrainian Brands Are Changing the Rules with International Retail
The year 2025 became a turning point for Ukrainian brands that operate, or plan to operate, in foreign markets. If earlier the key question was how to get onto the shelves of major retail chains, today a different issue is coming to the fore: how to maintain negotiating power when working with traditional retail while ensuring sustainable sales growth abroad. For many manufacturers, international marketplaces have become the answer to this challenge, evolving from an auxiliary sales channel into a tool of influence.
Traditional retail operates under a B2B model, where manufacturers sell large batches through distributors, often agreeing to complex conditions, long payment terms, and limited control over how their products are presented to consumers. In this model, a brand remains dependent on one or several partners, with little room for maneuver. Entering international marketplaces changes this logic. The manufacturer moves into direct contact with the end consumer, effectively becoming a B2C player on a global scale.
This transition has several fundamental consequences. First, the brand gains its own audience and its own data. Reviews, ratings, sales dynamics, and customer behavior all of this was previously inaccessible when a product simply stood on a retail shelf. Second, the manufacturer’s perception by retail changes. When a company demonstrates stable sales across several international platforms, it no longer appears as a risky newcomer. Instead, it is seen as a partner that has proven the viability of its product in a competitive environment.
A telling example is when a Ukrainian brand enters a marketplace in Germany, receives dozens of positive reviews, a high average rating, and more than a thousand sales. After that, conversations with major retail chains take place on different terms. Numbers that confirm demand and quality become arguments in negotiations over prices, purchase volumes, and cooperation conditions. In such a situation, the brand is no longer dependent on a single channel and is not forced to accept any terms just to gain shelf access.
Another key conclusion of 2025 was the need for diversification. Practice has shown that reliance on a single channel or a single market makes a business vulnerable to regulatory changes, tariffs, logistics disruptions, or shifts in consumer demand. As a result, more and more Ukrainian manufacturers are adopting a multi-channel and multi-regional model. The majority of efforts are concentrated on one primary channel that generates the largest share of revenue. At the same time, additional platforms are developed to create a reserve of sales, while a smaller portion of resources is allocated to experiments with new tools and regions.
Even if additional channels generate only 10–15 percent of turnover, they serve an important function. They reduce risks, allow companies to test new products, and increase the overall value of the brand in the eyes of partners. Retailers see that the company is not tied to a single market and is capable of scaling, making it more stable in the long term.
Marketplaces also play a significant role in rethinking pricing. They enable Ukrainian brands to move beyond price competition and build premium positioning. Examples of companies that successfully sell food products, handmade goods, or items with a strong cultural component across dozens of countries show that customers are willing to pay more for uniqueness, high-quality content, and a clear brand story. As a result, this effect carries over into offline retail, where manufacturers can more confidently defend higher prices.
It is also important that presence on marketplaces changes the very logic of negotiations. Manufacturers approach retail not with a request for a chance, but from the position of a company that already has a sales channel, proven demand, and real customers. Even if initial volumes are small, the mere fact of having an audience and positive reviews significantly strengthens the brand’s position.
The practical steps that follow from the experience of 2025 are quite pragmatic. Entering an international marketplace with at least one product already sends a strong signal to retail partners. Analyzing reviews allows companies to quickly improve products and service. Diversifying sales channels and regions reduces dependence on a single partner. And ultimately, marketplaces should be used not as a replacement for retail, but as a tool to strengthen one’s own autonomy.
The year’s outcome indicates a shift in the rules of the game. For Ukrainian brands, marketplaces have ceased to be an experiment or an additional opportunity. They have become leverage that allows companies to maintain negotiating power, scale beyond Ukraine, and build a sustainable growth model. In 2026, diversification of channels and markets appears no longer as a recommendation, but as a necessary condition for those who want not only to sell, but also to control their own future in the international market.
About the Author
Related posts:
“Code 95”: How New European Requirements Are Changing the Rules for Ukrainian International Drivers 
Confiscation of Housing in the Occupied Territories: How Russia Is Changing the Rules of the Game 
Ukraine’s Retail and E-commerce Market in 2025: Key Trends, Market Leaders, and Challenges 
Veto Instead of Support: How the President of Poland Is Changing the Rules for Ukrainian Refugees
