M.Video, a leading consumer electronics retailer, will open a network of outlets in Russian cities of less than 150,000 inhabitants, Telecom Daily reported last week. The limited-surface outlets will extend their restricted on-site assortment through POS electronic terminals that provide local customers with access to the retailer’s full catalog.

The first outlet of this type will open this summer, M.Video’s press service announced, with plans to deploy 35 similar sites across the country by the end of the year. The firm will invest some 35-40 million rubles ($11.5-$13.5 million) for each outlet, compared to 50 million rubles ($16.7 million) for a standard store.

These offline-online hybrids reflect a recent trend in Russian e-commerce. Major retailer Svyaznoy has begun offering electronic terminals in its outlets and last year launched a new online-offline concept, Enter.ru, whose inventory – which includes furniture, sporting goods, children’s wares and jewelry – goes well beyond its core mobile phone and electronics business.

Another major player, the X5 Retail Group, has launched Е5.ru, a website offering a catalog of 392,000 items that can be picked up at the chain’s offline supermarkets in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

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Launched in 2011, East-West Digital News is the first all English-language online resource dedicated to the Russian IT and innovation scene. The site provides news, events, market data, business tools and updates related to Internet, e-commerce, mobile and telecoms, digital TV and satellite systems, software and hardware innovation. www.ewdn.com