In 2012, Russia became the largest online audience in Europe and, this year, will amass an impressive 80 million internet users.
However, the population’s historical mistrust of online shopping means that Russia is an underdeveloped e-commerce market and that there is considerable room for improvement. Despite being valued at around $32.1 billion, which could rise to $38.6 billion next year, there is enormous potential for growth, as the country becomes more inclined to invest in and trust online shopping.
Every day, more than a quarter of a million e-commerce orders are placed and the average user makes ten purchases per year. These figures, combined with the fact that only half of the country is online, indicates just how much promise the market holds; at present, 51% of the population uses the internet, with 23% accessing it using a mobile device.
Affluent households are more likely to buy online and the average order value is around $90. In Russia, electronics and books are popular with internet shoppers, whereas food in particular is not a big e-commerce sector.
In Russia, Yandex is the biggest search engine and holds a 62% market share, compared to Google’s 26%. It is the most viewed online entity in Russia, the fourth largest search engine in the world, and will dominate three quarters of the Russian e-commerce market by 2020. Yandex also, crucially, favours sites with a selection of payment options, a Russian landline number and local office address, and secure payment process.
All of this, combined with its increased brand and user engagement, means that the Russian e-commerce market will continue to grow and the public will continue to trust it more and more. Find out more about online shopping in Russia from the following infographics:
