Russian market overview

There are no analogs for Muji in Russian market. The close markets are stationery retail shops, homeware, home furnishing, gifts and souvenirs, DIY centers, personal accessories. In most of these categories there are strong leaders, such as Krasniy Cub (souvenirs), Ikea (home furnishing) Leroy Merlin (DIY), Tupperware (homeware, kitchenware), Komus (stationery). Most of the categories show constant growth and according to forecasts their growth will continue in the future. Additionally to the good future prospects of these categories, the markets, at which these companies are operating, are quite fragmented in Russia. That gives Muji a chance to be successful on the market.
Let's make a closer look to the market data:

So, the forecasted growth value till 2016-17 for the core product types is on average 10-12%, varying from 6% to 31%. However, writing instruments category shows the decline of around 4%, but this category is not very considerable.

The shares, that belong to the companies, which obtain less than 0.1 % market share, vary from 44.5 to 82.5%, which is very promising for Muji if it enters Russian market.

Porter’s 5 forces for Muji market
Power of customers - medium	High price sensitivity and low switching costs. But increasing attention to quality and design among customers.
Power of suppliers - low	Production is made outside Russia, by well-established partnerships. As for shipping services, there is no particular difficulty to establish contracts.
Threat of new entrants – medium to high	No feasible barriers to enter the market, but for retail chain there is considerable capital requirements
Threat of substitute products - high	Many product items are easily substitutable by: free and corporate goods (free branded pens, organizers, notebooks), already-used package, that can be applied for further usage at home (packaging boxes instead of storage containers, bottles from beverages instead of special kitchenware end others)
Competitive rivalry within the industry - medium	No straight competitor, but strong players on sub-category markets, such as Ikea, Leroy Merlin, Komus, Krasniy Cub and others.