Sell Global. Feel Local Market Insight: Russia
27% Russia s e-commerce market is the fastest growing market in Europe. With an annual growth rate of 27%, it is also growing much faster than the U.S., U.K., Japan, Germany, or Brazil.
2012 @ 69 M In 2012, Russia already had the largest Internet user base in Europe (69 million).
2013 75 % $ 3BN Cross-border trade increased 75% to $3 billion in 2013.
THE RUSSIAN E-COMMERCE MARKET OPPORTUNITY
9 th With 146 million people, Russia is the ninth largest country in the world.
6 th Russia is sixth largest country in the world in terms of number of Internet users.
2013 $ 14.7BN $ 16-17.9 BN The e-commerce market in Russia was at least $16 billion in 2013, though some sources say it was as high as $17.9 billion, with $14.7 billion spent on physical goods.
2013 @ 71% Approximately 71% (49 million) Internet users in Russia made at least one online purchase in 2013.
@ 94% 60% 94% of 1,074 interviewed Internet users in Russia said, they have already made an online purchase; 60% said they do so at least monthly.
2020 $ 50-70 BN The Russian e-commerce market could be USD 50-70 billion by 2020, and up to USD 150 billion within 10 to 15 years.
The current e-commerce market in Russia is extremely fragmented. The biggest online retailers e-commerce market include: Ulmart, Ozon (the equivalent of Amazon), KupiVIP, Biglion, Avito and the German Otto Group online sites.
1/3 More than one-third of Russian online shoppers buy from abroad.
2013 $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 16BN $ $ $ $ In addition to the equivalent of USD 16 billion (or more) spent online in 2013 for domestic products and services, Russians purchased USD 3 billion online from companies outside the country.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ x 2 $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ It is widely expected that in the next five years, the volume of cross-border trade will double every year.
2013 36% 36% of Russian online shoppers have already made purchase at foreign Internet stores (2013 report published by GfK and Yandex).
not available products 63.3% @ better price 46.6% better assortment 39.3 % better assortment 35.8 % Russians shop foreign online stores because they can get: products not available in Russia (63.3%), better price (46.6%), better assortment (39.3%), and higher quality (35.8%), per Russian Higher School of Economics report.
$ 105 $ 180 The average value of a clothing order from foreign stores is USD 105; for electronics, it s USD 180.
@ Good news for U.S. companies: the U.S. is the preferred country of origin for its Russian consumers.
ONLINE BUYING PATTERNS
2013 22% As of 2013, 22% of Russian online consumers said they bought directly from brand websites, a figure similar to global average. This represents a huge shift toward direct to consumer sales.
2012 70% In 2012 70% claimed they never buy directly from brand websites.
22.8% 16.3% 11.9% 5.5% 5.5% Top e-tail categories in Russia are: electronics and household appliances (22.8%), apparel and footwear (16.3%), computers and laptops (11.9%), car parts (5.5%), and mobile phones (5.5%).
Other sources also note household goods and furniture, children s goods, and cosmetics as top categories.
75 % Moscow and St Petersburg have over 75% Internet penetration.
58% Country s average Internet lower penetrations elsewhere bring the country s average Internet penetration to 58%.
23% 41% 9% 50% Moscow St. Petersburg other region Approximately 41% of online purchases are made by shoppers in Moscow, 9% in St. Petersburg, and the remaining 50% spread across other regions (per InSales data).
2014 61 M In 2014 61 million people in Russia had smartphones, or approximately 43% of the population.
2017 100 M By 2017, PwC predicts Russia will have 100 million mobile Internet users, or 70% of the population, by 2017.
2012 2013 28% 23% 23% 41% 23% 31% 44% In 2012, 28% of smartphone users and 31% of tablet users said they shopped online using their mobile devices; one year later those figures jumped to 41% and 44%.
4.8h/day Internet users in Russia (and Poland) lead Europe in time spent online, vzwith an average of 4.8 hours on the Internet each day.
40% Russians also claims the top spot, along with Italians, for most time spent on social media, with Internet users in Russia spending more than 40% of their time online on social media.
2014 47M Russia had 47 million social media users as of February 2014.
34,5M 34.5 million Russians visit at least one social network per day.
2012 2013 37% 51% In 2013, 51% of Russian Internet users followed their favorite brands or retailers on social media, up from 37% in 2012.
2013 49M While Facebook dominates in Western Europe, the most popular social media platform in Russia is VKontakte (VK.com), with 49 million users as of December 2013. Odvroklassniki and Facebook are also popular.
ONLINE BUYING PROCESS: SEARCH THROUGH DELIVERY
In Russia, Google plays second fiddle to Yandex, which boasts 62% of the search engine market and 60 million users in Russia (95 million total). Google has 26% of the market. The remaining 12% of the market is made up of much smaller players.
$ $ Cash on delivery (COD) is still the primary payment method. Online payment systems or e-currencies, such as Yandex, Money, WebMoney, Qiwi Visa Wallet, and Paypal are also growing in popularity. Customers fund these with their bank accounts or debit cards or by depositing cash into kiosks located on streets and in supermarkets and other stores.
2013 $ $ 49% 24% 21% 18% alternative 9% 7% 15% In 2013 survey of 1,336 online shoppers in Russia, 49% had paid for online purchases in the preceding three months with COD, 24% using a debit card, 21% with a credit card, 18% via micro-billing system, 9% via Paypal, 7% via online banking transfer, and 15% using an alternative payment method.
31kg 1,000 For years Russia had one of the most lenient customs policies, with no duty required on incoming parcels if they were under 31kg in weight and less than 1,000 (about USD 1,340). However, heavy lobbying from domestic e-commerce players has led to much more restrictive customs rules and the duty-free threshold is expected to plummet, possibly to as low as 150 (USD 200). As before, anything above the duty-free threshold will be subject to a 30% duty.
2014 The new customs rules, which went into effect in early 2014, require additional documentation, including receipts and a passport number of the buyer.
FREE Online shoppers specified picking up their order at a convenient location, such as a local convenience store. Free shipping is their first choice delivery option. Russians outside Moscow and St. Petersburg have been willing to wait extra days or weeks for their desired products or brands to arrive, but as infrastructure improves and delivery options expand, their patience is sure to decrease and their desire for door-to-door delivery increase.
IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. BUSINESSES
Whatever you do, it is critical that you figure out how to provide your Russian shopper with an excellent, localized experience. You will have a significant advantage if you can provide: all the information he or she needs in the local language and currency (Russian and Rubles), the ability to use the most common local payment systems (COD, Yanex.Money and others), customer-friendly return policies, local and regional delivery options, and transparency into the fully landed cost.
SOURCES E-Commerce in Russia. East-West Digital News. July 2014 "Ecommerce in Russia." Ecommerce News. Eurolutions, May 2014 "List of Countries by Population." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 08 May 2014 "In Russia, E-commerce Demonstrates Rapid Growth, with and Increasing Role of Social Media and Mobile Devices." PwC.ru. PricewaterhouseCoopers Russia B.V., 25 Feb. 2014. "Russia Online Payment Preferences." Cybersource.com. Cybersource Corp., 2014. Khrennikov, Ilya. Yandex Moves Into Russian E-Commerce to Expand Beyond Web Search. Bloomberg.com. 4 Jun 2014 Ben-Shabat, Hana, Parveneh Nilsss, and Michael Moriarty. The2013 Global Retail E-Commerce Index. AT Kearny, Inc., 2013. Schneider, Avi. "Russian Ecommerce Valued at $13.4B. Small, but Not Too Shabby." GeekTime. Geek Media Online Communications LTD, 05 Aug. 2014. D'Amora, Delphine. "Battle Over E-Commerce Ejects Foreign Couriers." The Moscow Times. The Moscow Times, Jan. 2014. Web. 05 Aug. 2014 "Global Cross-Border B2C E-Commerce 2014." YStats.com. 16 April 2014 Henni, Adrien. "EBay and Russian Post Agree to Accelerate Cross-border Deliveries to Russia." Internetretailer.com. Vertical Web Media, 28 July 2014. "Cross-border Sales: Foreign E-merchants Do Not Always Have Price Advantage." Ewdn.com. East-West Digital News, 26 Dec. 2013. "Rob Cassedy of EBay: "For Russians, EBay Is All about International Deals." EastWest Digital News. 31 Jan. 2012. Kemp, Simon. "Social, Digital & Mobile in Europe in 2014." WeAreSocial.com. We Are Social Ltd, 5 Feb. 2014. Visnakovs, Maksims. "Ecommerce Opportunities in Russia."Searchlaboratory.com. Search Laboratory Ltd, 19 Sept. 2013. Visnakovs, Maksims. The Russian Search Engine Market. Searchlaboratory.com. 25 November 2013. Henni, Adrien. "Cross-border Sales Will Continue to Thrive with Mild Tax Regime and Simplified Customs Procedures." Ewdn.com. East-West Digital News, 02 June 2014. "Shipment Providers and Customs Authorities Agree Simplified Clearance Procedures for E-commerce Parcels." Ewdn.com. East-West Digital News, 30 Jan. 2014.
Sell Global. Feel Local eshopworld provides cross border e-commerce solutions and services that enable online retailers to easily extend sales to global shoppers, offering them a superb international shopping experience. We simplify global e-commerce, managing all the complexities of online sales to international customers, and we focus on providing the highest level of user experience. Our experts manage all the complexities of cross border compliance, so you don t have to. Contact us to find how we can simplify your global ecommerce. eshopworld USA 1330 Avenue of the Americas Suite 23, New York, NY 10019 T 1.888.293.7727 E global@eshopworld.com eshopworld Europe Unit 701 Business Park West, Ballycoolin, Dublin, Ireland T +353 1 880 9114 E global@eshopworld.com