Online trading market of Russia

Online sales of services in Russia

Main article: Internet sales of services in Russia

Online food sales in Russia

• Online food sales in Russia

Main article: E-Commerce

Marketplaces in Russia

Main article: Marketplaces in Russia

Ad sites in Russia

Main article: Ad sites in Russia

Outsourcing of eCom infrastructure (Russian market)

2024: Russia's duty-free online shopping threshold drops from €1,000 to €200

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation refused to maintain the ceiling of duty-free import of goods for personal use at the level of €1000, so from April 1, 2024 it will be reduced to €200. This decision of the department became known on February 20, 2024.

According to Vedomosti, citing a letter sent by the Ministry of Finance to the Russian marketplaces Yandex Market and Ozon, the ministry advocated lowering the ceiling for duty-free import of goods for personal use, since "the circumstances that served as the basis for the introduction of this norm have now been largely exhausted." The Ministry of Finance explained that the main goal of raising the threshold was to saturate the domestic market with goods for personal use. In addition, the measure made it possible to solve a number of economic problems related to the violation of supply chains, avoid a shortage of goods and prevent social tensions in the EAEU states.

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation refused to maintain the ceiling of duty-free import of goods for personal use at the level of €1000

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the largest marketplaces and logistics companies and Russian Post are in favor of maintaining the existing limit of €1000, since this will allow "to preserve a wide range of goods at affordable prices for the population of Russia under sanctions."

According to VCIOM the survey, almost half of the Russians surveyed believe that a decrease to €200 of the current limit of €1,000 for duty-free import of goods ordered from foreign marketplaces will negatively affect consumers. Large Russian Internet sites also oppose lowering the threshold, since cross-border trade allows you to keep prices rising and keep your choice for buyers.

According to Ozon forecasts, after lowering the limit, prices for 35% of goods worth from 200 to 1000 euros will increase by 10-15%. Marketplace calculated that the change in value will affect more than 30 million Russians who buy goods from abroad using the duty-free threshold.^[1]

2023

The 10 largest Internet companies in Russia are named. For the first time, "Avito" was included in the list

In April 2024, research company Infoline published a rating of the largest online retailers in. For the Russia first time, the ad service "" entered the top 10.Avito

As they write Sheets"" with reference to Infoline materials, the marketplace remained the leader of the Russian online trading market in 2023, Wildberries which increased turnover (excluding services) by 80% compared to 2022 - to 2.5 trillion. rubles The second place was retained Ozon with a turnover of 1.64 trillion rubles, which is 108% more than a year ago. At the end of 2023, Avito's commodity turnover reached 1.9 trillion rubles, but it is specified that this estimate is approximate, since the number of transactions made and their amount are not tracked on the platform. Thus, Avito took third position in the ranking. Next are:

In 2023, the volume of the e-commerce market in Russia reached approximately 6.4 trillion rubles

• retail assets related to the Sberbank ecosystem (Megamarket, SberMarket, Samokat, Sber Eapteka) - 605.8 billion rubles;
• retail assets of the E-commerce Yandex"" block Yandex.Market("," Yandex.Lavka"," delivery from retail chains Yandex.Food"" and) Market.Deliveri - from 503.4 billion rubles;
• chain of stores electronic engineers DNS - 229.3 billion rubles.

Mikhail Burmistrov, General Director of Infoline Analytics, highlighted several trends in the field of electronic commerce in Russia. One of them is associated with pragmatic purchasing behavior and leads to the active development of sales and purchases of goods through social networks and classifications (ad services), both used goods and new ones.

Burmistrov called the second trend that the largest marketplaces and aggregators enter new segments, begin to develop sales of services, for example, tourist, or financial, or repair and resale services (resale).^[2]

Decrease in the share of orders from abroad over 6 years from 36% to 3%

In 2023, the e-commerce market in Russia reached about 6.4 trillion rubles, which is 28% more compared to the previous year. At the same time, orders from abroad accounted for only about 3%, or approximately 197 billion rubles. For comparison, in 2017, cross-border Internet trade in the Russian Federation provided 36% in the total volume of the industry under consideration. The corresponding data are given in a study by the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT) and Sberbank, the results of which were published in mid-February 2024.

Thus, for the period from 2017 to 2023, the share of orders from abroad in the e-commerce segment of the Russian Federation decreased by 12 times. Analysts highlight several major factors contributing to the rapid decline in cross-border Internet trade. Due to the formed geopolitical situation and the imposition of sanctions, many Western online stores have curtailed their activities in Russia. For the same reason, the development of domestic marketplaces has accelerated. In addition, some foreign logistics companies stopped serving customers in the Russian Federation, which led to an increase in the delivery time for goods.

In 2023, the volume of the e-commerce market in Russia reached approximately 6.4 trillion rubles

At the same time, foreign online stores stopped accepting payment from cards of Russian banks. As a result, it is not possible to make a purchase, even if the trading platform itself continues to send goods to Russia. At the same time, a relatively small number of users of online stores in the Russian Federation have cards of foreign banks.

According to the published data, in 2023, the local segment accounted for 97% of the total e-commerce market in Russia. This corresponds to about 6.2 trillion rubles. For comparison, a year earlier, the figure was 4.8 trillion rubles, and in 2021 - 3.6 trillion rubles.^[3]

Marketplaces occupied 58% of the Russian online trading market

The volume of Russian online trade in 2023 amounted to 7.4 trillion rubles, an increase of 30% compared to the previous year. This assessment was given to the market at IBC Real Estate in mid-February 2024. According to experts, the share of universal marketplaces (Wildberries, Ozon, Yandex Market, Aliexpress Russia) in the total volume of online purchases in the Russian Federation in 2023 reached 58%.

As Kommersant writes with reference to the data cited by the head of the department for work with warehouse and production premises of IBC Real Estate Yevgeny Papagin, household appliances and electronics accounted for 12% of online trade in Russia in 2023. The share of food products in this volume was 10%, repair goods - 5%, pharmaceutical products - 4%, clothing - 3%.

The volume of Russian online trade in 2023 amounted to 7.4 trillion rubles

One of the important trends in the development of the Russian e-commerce market, Yevgeny Bumagin called the consolidation of online trading in the Russian Federation on the two largest marketplaces. At the end of the year, Ozon and Wildberries accounted for 53% of all online sales and 75% of all orders. Among other trends in the industry, the representative of IBC Real Estate named an increase in the total number of orders (in 2023 they were made 4.6 billion) and a decrease in the average purchase check (to 1608 rubles).

According to the paper, the share of online sales amounted to 19% in the turnover of retail trade in Russia at the end of 2023.

In 2024, the growth of the e-commerce market will continue, said Askar Rakhimberdiev, co-founder of the My Warehouse service. The main driver will be the ability to find a similar product at a lower price. In the context of a decrease in household incomes and rising inflation, consumers will save and order online more often, he said in a conversation with Kommersant^[4]

Growth in the volume of online trade by 28% to 6.36 trillion rubles

The volume of the Russian e-commerce market in 2023 reached 6.36 trillion rubles, which is 28% more compared to 2022. This is evidenced by the data of the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT), which were released in February 2024. The study was prepared with the participation of Sberbank.

According to the report, excerpts from which Interfax cites, the online segment accounted for 13.8% of retail sales in the Russian Federation at the end of 2023 against 11.6% a year earlier. The share of online sales within Russia in 2023 amounted to 96.9%, and cross-border trade occupied 3.1% of the domestic e-commerce market.

According to AKIT, the share of Moscow in terms of sales in 2023 decreased to 17.7% from 19.4% a year earlier, but the region retained its leadership in terms of the share of Internet sales. Moscow is followed by the Moscow region (up to 9.2% from 10.7% in 2022) and St. Petersburg (up to 6.1% from 7%). In the top ten, the share of the Krasnodar Territory increased, in 2022 it amounted to 4.7% and the Rostov Region in 2022 - 2.6%, in a number of other regions the share also increased by an average of 0.3% -0.5% in the total volume of online sales. Such indicators are also associated with the rapid development of partner points for issuing orders for both marketplaces and classic online stores.

What we noted yesterday as a trend in the development of Internet trade in the country today has become an indisputable fact: the driver of e-commerce today is the Russian regions. The volumes of the online market in cities of federal significance almost peaked: growth in Moscow, St. Petersburg, as well as the Moscow region in 2023 was within 10%. At the same time, in the regions of the South of Russia, Siberia and the Far East, it is more than 40%, - said the president of the association Artem Sokolov.

The study notes that the growth in popularity in Russia and the change in the regional sales structure have become noticeable since 2020: all this time, Internet trading companies are actively investing in the development of their logistics infrastructure on the ground, developing partnerships with local businesses - this directly affects the improvement of the quality of services and the expansion of assortment offers for all Russians.

According to AKIT, the five best-selling goods on the Internet at the end of 2023 remained the same. Most purchases in terms of volumes are in digital and household appliances 18%, furniture and household goods - 15.4%, clothing and shoes - 14.6%, food - 11%, as well as beauty and health products - 8.1%.

On average, in 2023, average checks in the categories of pharmacies, accessories (bags, belts, hats), sports products and 20% for purchases of clothes and shoes increased by 30%. In other categories, there was a decrease: by 33% the average check for orders of books and jewelry decreased, by more than 10% - furniture and household goods, tools, goods from pet stores, by 3-4% of goods for children and food.

AKIT first analyzed sales in the category of "digital goods." In software stores, for the purchase of e-books, films, subscriptions to online cinemas and other digital goods, customers spent 281 billion rubles in 2023 - this is 4.4% of the total turnover of distance trading. The average order in this area amounted to 363 rubles.

It also follows from the materials of the association that in 2023 the share of purchases using coupons and promotional codes increased significantly - from 15% to 21%. At the same time, cashback, on the contrary, was used less often - the share for the year decreased from 24% to 19%.^[5]

Named the most popular services for delivering goods from abroad to Russia

In January 2024, the mobile operator Tele2 published a study in which it reported on the most popular services for the delivery of goods from abroad in the Russian Federation. By the end of 2023, these became (according to the number of users visiting the sites at least once a month):

• SDEK Shopping;
• Usmall;
• LiteMF.

According to Tele2, over two years, the share of users in the B2C segment who accessed the sites of ordering services for goods from Europe and the United States has grown 8 times: from 0.3% at the beginning of 2022 to 2.4% at the end of 2023. The multiple growth of the audience began in March 2023: relative to January 2022, it increased 4.3 times, 6 times - by March a year earlier, and 2.4 times compared to January 2023.

Analysts investigated the behavior of the company's customers at 11 sites of ordering services in 2022-2023: Banderolka, Mail Global, SDEK Shopping, Brandly, Evrozakaz, LiteMF, Shipito, Shipshopamerica, Shopfans, Shopotam, Usmall.

The core of the audience of users of goods delivery services from abroad to the Russian Federation consists of women and men aged 35 to 44 years: they occupy 17% each. Men from 25 to 34 years old occupy a share of 12%, and women - 11%. In the 45-54 category, the proportion of sexes was distributed as follows: 12% for women and 11% for men. Less interest is shown by representatives of age groups 55-64 years of both sexes - the share of such users is 5% each. The proportion of women over 64 years old is 2%, men - 1%. Men aged 18-24 among users of cargo services make up 4%, and women - 3%.

Tele2 also assessed the involvement of users of services of various categories, for example, social networks, marketplaces, deliveries of goods from abroad, dating services, streaming platforms and others. Engagement was calculated for each calendar month 2022-2023. Thus, the audience involvement rate for delivery services from abroad increased by 18 times over two years (from 0.00003 to 0.0006).^[6]

Published the first in Russia rating of the convenience of online stores

The Runet Rating digital contractor selection service and the Kislorod ecommerce agency have released the first version of the online store convenience rating. Representatives of the Runet Rating shared this with TAdviser on December 15, 2023. According to them, its main difference is the focus on UX, and not business indicators like turnover or the number of orders.

"So far, most sites of online stores can hardly be called convenient, and the purchase process in them is pleasant. From audit to audit, we see the same errors. I hope our checklist will allow you to fulfill the necessary minimum in UX, and then it's up to deep analytics, "the authors of the rating noted.

The rating is divided into categories. As of December 15, 2023, Electronics and Technology, Food and Beauty and Care have been published. The authors plan to cover all popular categories (health, sports and children's goods, furniture and household goods, repairs, books, etc.) and expand the composition of participants.

"So far, our rating is not a reflection of the market situation. He shows the methodology and what to strive for. The main result of our work is checklists for checking online stores, which we made open so that online grocery teams and their contractors could use them, "explained Alexander Tunik, editor and product manager.

For the first version, the project team took online stores from the Data Insight rating (Data Insight). Their sites were evaluated by checklists of 150 + items. Each item is given a weight depending on the importance for convenience of purchase.

Checklists and ratings of each participant are published on the rating website.^[7] of online stores The next update of the rating is scheduled^[8] the end of March 2024.

"This is the first step towards creating a standard for a convenient online store. Our checklists can be used by both developer agencies and grocery teams of the stores themselves, "said Anatoly Denisov, editor-in-chief of Runet Rating.

To compile checklists, experts from companies with their e-commerce were involved: METRO, MegaFon, Hobby World, Children's World and others. The full list is published on the rating website.

Growth in the volume of online trade by 35% to 15.4 trillion rubles

The volume of online trade in Russia in 2023 soared by 35% compared to 2022 and reached 15.4 trillion rubles. Such data were published by the Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC) in mid-December 2023.

According to the chief analyst of the association, Maria Saykina, the main driver of the growth of the online trading market was the transition of offline retail to the Internet. She also noted the "renaissance of cross-border trade" against the background of improving supply chains, which were in a difficult situation in 2022.

As Vedomosti writes with reference to RAEK materials, consumers began to show a more active interest in Russian goods and their own trademarks. But despite the fact that the volume of purchases on the Internet has not decreased, buyers are trying to choose more budget products, the researchers note.

Maria Saykina believes that the further situation on the Russian online trading market will depend on the form in which the "law on marketplaces" will be adopted, which implies a number of restrictions and bans for electronic platforms, in particular, a ban on frequent changes in offers to sellers, etc.

According to Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics, in its assessment of the e-commerce market, RAEK most likely takes into account sales of not only material goods, but also sales of travel, air tickets, the so-called e-HoReCa (digital services of the hotel and restaurant business segment), catering, etc. Without taking into account these areas, the volume of the Russian e-commerce market in January-September 2023 can be estimated at 5.5 trillion rubles, the expert noted.

Infoline Analytics believes that in 2023 the growth of the online sales market in Russia amounted to at least 44%, and the market capacity reached 8.2 trillion rubles.^[9]

Growth in sales by 23% to 4.3 trillion rubles for 9 months of the year

In January-September 2023, the volume of the Russian e-commerce market reached 4.3 trillion rubles, an increase of 23% compared to the same period in 2022. Such data in November 2023 were disclosed in the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT).

According to TASS, citing AKIT materials, the share of sales of Russian companies engaged in online commerce in the first three quarters of 2023 amounted to 97.2% (4.1 trillion rubles). The cross-border market accounts for 2.8% (117 billion rubles).

According to the association's research, the share of online commerce in total retail sales rose from 11% in January-September 2023 to 12.5% a year later. Digital and household appliances have become the most popular goods among Russians online. Its share in total sales amounted to 18.9%. Buyers spent 812.6 billion rubles on equipment on the Internet.

The list of the most popular categories also includes furniture and household goods (720 billion rubles, 16.7%), clothing and shoes (661 billion rubles, 15.3%), food (528 billion rubles, 12.2%), beauty and health products (349 billion rubles, 8.1%).

The leader in terms of share in the total volume of online sales was Moscow (18%). The top 3 also included the Moscow region (9.2%) and St. Petersburg (6.1%). The list is followed by the Krasnodar Territory (5.1%), Rostovskaya (2.9%), Sverdlovsk (2.6%), Nizhny Novgorod (2.2%) and Samara Regions (2%), as well as Tatarstan (1.9%) and Krasnoyarsk Territory (1.8%).

AKIT President Artem Sokolov drew attention to the fact that the trend towards scaling online trade in the regions of the country has been observed since 2020. He noted that the trend is primarily associated with the growing popularity of online sales in Russia.

Over the years, companies have actively invested in the development of their logistics infrastructure on the ground, developed partnerships with local businesses, and this has directly affected the improvement in the quality of services and an increase in the availability of goods for all Russians, Sokolov added.[10]

Launch of simplified e-commerce between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia

The Federal Customs Service of Russia registered the first participant in the experiment on electronic trade in goods between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia. It was the owner of a temporary storage warehouse and a customs representative of Avtotransgarant LLC. This became known in early October 2023. Read more here.

Russia has adopted a law allowing purchases of up to 15 thousand rubles in foreign online stores without identification

On March 1, 2023, the State Duma adopted in the third (final) reading a law allowing Russians to make purchases cheaper than 15 thousand rubles in foreign online stores without identification. The adoption of the amendments will make it possible to provide citizens with alternative ways to pay for purchases in foreign online stores and optimize the administrative burden on banks associated with identification and simplified identification procedures, the explanatory note to the bill says.

According to the legislation in force on March 1, 2023, banks may not carry out simplified identification of a client if he transfers funds without opening a bank account, including electronic funds, in favor of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs as payment for goods, works and services, if the amount of the transfer does not exceed 15 thousand rubles. At the same time, to transfer funds to an organization created abroad, regardless of the amount, you need to go through the identification procedure.

Thus, an individual client can make a purchase in the amount of up to 15 thousand rubles without passing identification/simplified identification, using remote banking services, in an online store registered in the Russian Federation. However, it cannot perform a similar operation in a foreign online store. To do this, the client needs to take additional actions: either undergo simplified identification, or identification with a personal appearance at a bank branch, - said in an explanatory note, excerpts from which are provided by Duma TV.

The document was initiated by the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption of the Andrei Lugovoi (LDPR). Amendments will be made to the law "On countering the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism."^[11]

2022

The share of Russians ordering goods and services via the Internet has grown

By the end of 2022, more than half (53.7%) mastered the order of goods and services for, to the Internet while a year earlier this share was 46.6%. The Institute for Statistical Research and Knowledge Economics HSE presented such data at the end of January 2024 in its report prepared jointly with and. Ministry of Digital Development Russia Rosstat

According to the study, users aged 25 to 29 (74.1%) practiced online shopping most actively in 2022, while the gap in the number of purchases made between this group and the group from 30 to 59 years old is narrowing. It also follows from the report that in 2022 the share of organizations participating in e-commerce almost doubled (from 16.5% in 2021 to 29.8% a year later).

At the end of 2022, Russia took 12th place in the list of countries in terms of the share of the population using the Internet to order goods and services. The top three included Britain (90% of residents shop online), Canada (86%) and Sweden (86%).

It also follows from the report that by 2022 93.5% of adult Russians have ever used the Internet. The level of use of the Network among children under 15 years of age practically does not change (-0.8 pp) relative to the maximum value achieved in 2020 (88%), even against the background of a decrease (over the same period by 21.7 pp) in the demand for distance learning; most (85.6%) need the Internet to prepare for lessons and school projects.

Among adult Internet users, 74.5% communicate on social networks. Russia ranks 4th in the world ranking in terms of the number of calls or video calls made online (88%).

86.6% of the population who applied for state and municipal services in 2022 received them in electronic form, and the overwhelming majority rated their quality positively.

Digital Economics Brief Statistical Compendium

Growth of online sales of non-food products by 26% to 4.33 trillion rubles

The turnover of online trade in non-food products in Russia in 2022 reached 4.33 trillion rubles, which is 26% more than a year ago at 3.44 trillion rubles. Such data in December 2023 was presented by BusinesStat analysts.

According to them, the Russian market for online trade in non-food products demonstrated a stable high dynamics from 2018 to 2022, but 2020 became a breakthrough for it/The then-beginning coronavirus pandemic COVID-19 and the subsequent restrictions forced Russians to go online and begin to more actively master the online channel for shopping goods. The positive experience of using it led to the fact that even after the end of the pandemic, the turnover of online commerce continued to grow, the researchers note. In 2020, online sales of non-food products in Russia soared by 53% and exceeded 2.9 trillion rubles.

According to analysts' estimates for 2022, most of the turnover of all online trade in non-food products is domestic trade, the share of which, according to the Association of Internet Trade Companies, increased over the five years from 68% to 96% of total online sales. The decrease in the share of international trade from 32% to 4% was due to the development of domestic Internet trade in Russia in 2020 and the disconnection of the country from international payment systems Visa and Mastercard in 2022, which complicated the purchase of goods on foreign sites, noted in a study by BusinesStat, the authors of which refer to the data of the Association of Internet Trade Companies.

INFOline CEO Mikhail Burmistrov explains that the growth of online commerce in the country was facilitated by the departure of the largest offline players in the non-food segment IKEA, Zara and H&M and the sale of their remaining goods on marketplaces. In addition, AliExpress Russia shareholders refused to invest in the project, which made it possible to increase their market shares in Wildberries and Ozon.^[12]

The Russian market for storage and delivery of goods through online stores has grown fourfold

The volume of the Russian fulfillment market (services provided by the company or marketplace for delivering goods to the buyer) in 2022 reached 52.7 billion rubles, an increase of 24.5% compared to the previous year. Regarding 2018, the market has grown more than four times. This is evidenced by data from analysts BusinesStat, published in August 2023.

According to experts, the revenue of fulfillment services in 2022 increased due to the massive spread of e-commerce and the development of Russian marketplaces that actively use fulfillment in their operating activities.

The study notes that in 2022 the Russian fulfillment market showed growth and development, reflecting the general trends of the global e-commerce and logistics market. In Russia, there was a rapid increase in interest in online purchases and the active development of marketplaces. In turn, the increase in the number of online stores, sellers of marketplaces and the volume of e-commerce stimulates the demand for fulfillment services.

Marketplaces showed the best dynamics among all consumer segments of fulfillment in Russia. The segment increased by more than 14 times: from 1.9 billion rubles in 2018 to 27.4 billion rubles in 2022. A significant role in this was played by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in which mass adaptation and distribution of marketplaces were launched, and the demand for their services in Russia increased.

According to the researchers, the sanctions introduced in 2022, although they led to restrictions on the supply of certain goods, could not have a significant impact on the fulfillment market in Russia. The increase in demand in online trading had a significantly higher impact, which led to an increase in the fulfillment market even in the face of an economic downturn. A number of foreign fulfillment operators, including large ones, left the Russian market. But their shares were quickly replaced by domestic companies.^[13]

Increase in buyer expenses for the purchase of tickets for concerts and events via the Internet by 44% to 15.7 billion rubles

The expenses of Russians for the purchase of tickets for concerts and events via the Internet in 2022 jumped to 15.7 billion rubles, which is 44% more compared to 2021. At the same time, in comparison with the pre-pandemic (we are talking about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic), 2019, the volume of this market almost halved. This is evidenced by the data of the market research agency "GuideMarket."

According to experts, the common driver for the entire concert market by 2022 was the removal of covid restrictions. However, the market could not reach the values ​ ​ of 2019 mainly due to the departure of artists and a ban on performances by a number of musicians, most of whom collected large stadium and club concerts.

In addition, in 2022, Russians reduced spending on such types of recreation and leisure as travel to Europe or going to the cinema for foreign blockbusters, and in a tense geopolitical situation, the population needs a positive recharge, which is provided by various events and concerts, noted in the study.

In 2018-2019. the market volume was in the range of 23-28 billion rubles. Industries predicted further growth, but the coronavirus pandemic sharply negatively affected the industry. The coronavirus and the related lockdown caused the cancellation of events and concerts, as well as the fear of people being in public places.

According to the Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC), in 2021 the negative trend continued - the volume of decline in the industry amounted to 9.9%, since a number of antiquated restrictions were still in effect. For example, the concert venue was supposed to establish the maximum number of participants in the events - no more than 70% of the occupancy of the hall.^[14]

Market turnover growth by 38% to 5.7 trillion rubles

The total turnover of the online retail market in Russia in 2022 amounted to 5.7 trillion rubles, an increase of 38% compared to 2021. Data Insight analysts released such data in March 2023. According to their estimates, the number of online orders in the Russian Federation increased even more - by 65%, to 2.8 billion.

At the same time, the growth rate slowed down: in 2021, the total turnover of e-commerce increased by 52% in money and by 104% in physical terms compared to the previous year. Analysts explain this by the departure from the market of a significant part of players, especially premium ones. In fact, Internet sales grew exclusively due to the transition of consumers from ordinary retail to online: market participants did a lot for this, investing in 2019-2022. huge funds in infrastructure (warehouses, logistics, etc.).

The main contribution to market growth in 2022 was made by large universal marketplaces. In the second half of 2022, their share reached a record 73% in the total number of orders.

The average check in online commerce continued to decline: at the end of 2022, it amounted to 2,010 rubles, which is 16% lower than a year ago. The reason for the decrease in the average check is an increase in the share of stores with small checks and frequent orders (marketplaces, ultra-fast delivery of products). At the same time, in most stores, average checks increased over the year, analysts say.

The share of online sales in 2022 amounted to 15% of the total retail volume in the Russian Federation and 30% of the non-food retail market (+ 3 pp and + 5 pp year-on-year, respectively).

The main trends of 2022 in the Russian online trading market are named:

• Decrease in the share of impulse and premium purchases;
• Acceleration of flow to marketplaces;
• Market mobility in terms of distribution between brands;
• Explosive growth of investments in promotion on marketplaces;
• A noticeable decrease in the average cost of purchases.^[15]

Online sales growth of consumer goods by 43.5%

Online sales of consumer goods (FMCG) in Russia in 2022 increased by 43.5%, which is five times more than the average growth rate in the global market (8.3%). This is evidenced by the data that NielsenIQ analysts published in mid-March 2023.

Analysts noted that in the global FMCG market, a slowdown in sales is becoming the main trend in the field of e-commerce: the overall dynamics of online trading has halved (from 16.2% in 2021 to 8.3% in 2022). At the same time, in Russia, the online channel remains the most dynamic due to the trend towards savings - buyers continue to compare prices for most products and find more profitable offers on the Internet.

In Russia, almost all product categories recorded double-digit sales growth topics in the FMCG segment, and non-food products (feminine hygiene products, laundry products, body care) and hot drinks became the fastest growing segments. So, according to researchers, in 2022 online sales of laundry products in the Russian Federation increased by 96.8% year-on-year, women's hygiene products - by 96.1%. The demand for body care products increased by 79.9%, by 67.9% - for oral and shaving products, by 65.8% - for cleaning products. The increase in demand for household chemicals and hygiene products in the online channel is noted in the context of a decrease in the range of these categories at all offline points of sale.

On the Russian market, the online channel remains the most dynamic, including thanks to the trend towards savings - buyers continue to compare prices for most products and find more profitable offers online, - said Konstantin Loktev, director of work with the retailer NielsenIQ.

According to him, at the same time, retailers are revising business models "to optimize the business economy" (development of express delivery and pickup services, switching to work with local suppliers, expanding the number of darksters, and so on) in order to achieve greater sales profitability.^[16]

Market growth by 30%, volume exceeded 5.17 trillion rubles

The volume of the Russian online trading market in 2022 grew by more than 30% and reached 5.17 trillion rubles. This is evidenced by the data of the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT), which are cited on its website on January 24, 2023.

In a conversation with Izvestia, AKIT President Artem Sokolov clarified that in 2022 the largest share of sales of all online retail fell on marketplaces - 45% (almost 2.25 trillion rubles) against 39% (1.4 trillion rubles) in 2021. The number of active sellers per year at different sites increased 2.5-3.5 times - to about 960 thousand, he added.

Consumers made purchases mainly on Russian marketplaces - their share is 96.4% of the market turnover. Spending of Russians in foreign online retail for the year dramatically decreased against the background Russia of leaving payment systems Visa MasterCard and the refusal of the largest Western marketplaces to deliver goods to. Russia If at the beginning of 2022 purchases from such sellers accounted for 13% of the market turnover, then by the end of the year they decreased by more than three times - to 3.6%, reported. RBC

According to a study by Tinkoff eCommerce, in 2022 the number of purchases of Russians on marketplaces increased by 43% in annual terms. Marketplaces accounted for 8.5% of the amount of all spending by Russians online and offline, which is 1.5 times more than in 2021. According to the publication, the increase in the expenses of Russians on marketplaces is due to the departure of foreign brands, the development of parallel imports, a large assortment of goods, as well as a convenient interface and the development of logistics of large platforms.

According to Artem Sokolov, while classic retail remained unstable due to the closure of a number of stores, marketplaces and other online trading companies offered customers both products of departed brands and new goods from local industries and importers as an alternative. A large number of Russian companies have appeared in online retail, mainly in the segment of small and medium-sized businesses, he added.

The most popular platform for business remained Wildberries - more than 60% of entrepreneurs worked on it. On Ozon trade 25%, on "" Yandex.Market- 8%.

The main source of sales growth on marketplaces is the flow of buyers and, in general, purchases from traditional retail, Boris Ovchinnikov, partner of Cross Insights, explained to Izvestia. The changes in 2022 accelerated this process due to the closure of some offline stores, a reduction in the range in the remaining and other factors.^[17]

Russian online stores began to refuse the services of logistics operators and are developing their delivery systems

Russian online stores began to refuse the services of logistics operators and are developing their delivery systems. This is stated in a study by Data Insight (Data Insight), published in November 2022.

As Vedomosti writes with reference to this report, due to the fact that logistics companies are losing the online trade segment, the Russian logistics market is consolidating: small courier services are being closed, startups are being frozen. At the same time, the business volumes of larger logicians are also decreasing, in the portfolio of which there was a significant share of shipments of international brands that left the Russian market.

According to the study, over the past three years, most of the deliveries (about 74%) were carried out by online stores themselves, but in 2022 the figure increased immediately by 12%.

The main growth falls on the largest marketplaces - Ozon and Wildberries, in the third quarter of 2022 their share of all delivery services was 75%, while in 2021 they accounted for 62%. Thus, the transition of sellers to marketplaces will lead to a decrease in the share of the logistics services market for Internet trading enterprises by 10% by the end of the year, analysts say. In this regard, market participants will be forced to raise prices or reduce supply in order to maintain the profitability of deliveries.

According to Leonid Zondberg, head of the urgent delivery service from retail and online stores of Russian Post, marketplaces are actively promoting the FBO (Fulfillment by Operator) model, when they not only provide a "showcase," but are engaged in storing, processing and delivering an order.

This limits the growth of the share of delivery of logistics companies, "he explained.

According to a Wildberries spokesman, the increase in logistics costs is due to an increase in the cost of all its components, from warehouse equipment and commercial vehicles to materials for the construction of new logistics facilities. Since 2020, their cost has grown by about 50%, he added.^[18]

The law on the regulation of the Runet will make social networks and stores poorer by 100 billion

By the end of 2022, the State Duma plans to submit a bill on recommendation algorithms on the Internet, which will make it possible to turn them off. This became known on November 21, 2022. Read more here.

Internet trade turnover for 9 months increased almost 1.5 times to 3.5 trillion

The turnover of online commerce in Russia from January to September increased almost 1.5 times year-on-year and amounted to 3.5 trillion rubles, maintaining the same growth rate as in the first half of the year. At the same time, cross-border trade accounts for only 3.8% of the online trade turnover. AKIT.

The State Duma rejected the bill on a single operator of outdoor advertising and ads on the Internet

Roskachestvo and Rosakkreditatsiya launched a register of trusted online sites, which was announced on November 8, 2022. The list, among other companies, includes Ozon and DNS. Read more here.

Growth in sales volume for 8 months by 39% to 3.08 trillion rubles

The volume of online trade in the Russian Federation in January-August 2022 amounted to 3.08 trillion rubles, which is 39% higher than the same indicator last year - AKIT.

Online sales growth of 20% in July

The volume of Internet sales in the Russian Federation in July 2022 increased by 2.6% compared to the figure for June - Rosstat. Compared to the same indicator over the past year, online sales increased by 20%.

Growth of online purchases in the 1st half of the year by 43% to 2.2 trillion rubles

Russians' spending on online purchases in the first six months of 2022 increased by 43%. The total amount of purchases this year amounted to 2.3 trillion rubles, while 2.2 trillion of them fell on the domestic market.

In the first half of 2022, online sales of non-food products in Russia increased by 51.5%, food online trading - by 100%. According to the forecast of the INFOline agency from October, which cites this data, the total volume of e-commerce in 2022 will grow by 40%.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has formed a Commission to create conditions for self-regulation in electronic commerce

Under the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, a Commission was formed to create conditions for self-regulation in electronic commerce. This was reported on July 26, 2022 by the press service of the vice-president of Opora Rossii Alexei Kozhevnikov. Read more here.

The e-commerce market in Russia is showing a high growth rate

On June 2, 2022, the Higher School of Business of the Higher School of Economics presented the results of research conducted as part of the preparation of the analytical report "Development of e-commerce in Russia."

Specialists of the Higher School of Business HSE note that the e-commerce market in Russia demonstrates a high growth rate. Based on the open data analyzed in the preparation of the report, as well as on the results of an empirical study of consumer behavior over the past 3 years with a sample of 4394 respondents, the authors of the report formulated the main theses. They are relevant for companies operating in the e-commerce market.

First, when working with e-commerce, it is important to take into account that consumers evaluate online stores according to a number of criteria: safety, convenience, responsibility and decency of the online store, customer orientation, satisfaction, possible risks and emotional impressions. Secondly, it should be understood that users read customer reviews, but reviews do not become the determining factor in making a purchase. 67.3% of respondents trust the already left reviews of other consumers: 81.9% pay attention to the number of reviews when choosing a product and/or store; 70.5% believe: the more reviews, the higher the likelihood that the consumer will choose the product and/or store to make a purchase.

In addition, in the course of research, the authors of the report revealed that over the period from 2019 to 2021, consumers noted a significant positive change in the customer orientation of online stores. At the same time, there is a request to improve the client experience, which can be implemented using UX studies. As part of the study, a survey was conducted on the advantages of online shopping, where the undisputed leader among all characteristics is "Quick search for the desired product" (a total of 89.7% according to the consumer attractiveness criterion), and the top 3 also includes "Ease of comparing offers before buying" (87.0%) and "Saving time" (83.9%). 54.8% of respondents plan to increase the frequency of their purchases in online stores, 1.9% will return to offline retail stores, 24.4% are satisfied with the regularity of purchases in the online store and plan to maintain it in the future at the same level.

Employees of the Higher School of Economics, who prepared an analytical report, also analyzed the opinion of users on the safety of online purchases. 80% of respondents believe that interaction with an online store does not cause difficulties, but only 9.3% of respondents believe that it is safe to make purchases on the Internet. Also, according to the results of the study, 6.6% of respondents do not trust information about the product on the Internet, preferring to search and buy goods exclusively in offline stores. In 2020, you can see an increase in consumer confidence in the e-commerce market: the share of prepaid purchases compared to 2019 increased from 64 to 92%

Online sales growth per 65% in Q1

Experts recorded a powerful increase in online sales in Russia: for the first quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, the growth was 65%, exceeding 1.2 trillion rubles.

Ozon and Wildberries: We are IT companies like Amazon. Retailers ask government to extend IT industry support benefits to them

Ozon and Wildberries believe that as part of providing measures to support the IT industry, companies like theirs should also be able to receive some benefits on a par with IT companies. This follows from the speeches of representatives of these companies on March 26 at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, dedicated to the discussion of the upcoming third package of measures to support the IT industry.

As part of the previously introduced support measures, tax incentives are in effect, including reduced insurance premiums, for those organizations that develop and license software. As part of the upcoming third package of support measures, it is planned to extend them to a wider range of companies, including software integrators who are engaged in the implementation of domestic solutions, and Internet companies that earn money by selling advertising and services.

Ozon CEO Alexander Shulgin says that in the current wording, such businesses as,, Amazon Uber or Alibaba Microsoft even in theory, could not take advantage of these benefits, because they have monetization not only in licensing software and advertising revenue. However, these are "the most powerful IT companies." The same applies to the Russian market. Marketplaces, aggregators of travel services are, in fact, also IT companies and give work to tens of thousands of IT specialists in the country.

Ozon employs about 40 thousand people, of which 4 thousand are engineers. Despite the fact that this is a retailer, there is a large amount of proprietary software behind all this business: "almost all of our software was created by our own engineers." And the contribution of platform businesses to the development of the economy is significantly higher than those who earn from online advertising, because they allow SMB companies to increase their sales and give work to their employees.

We have more than 100 thousand sellers on the platform, more than 20 thousand participants in the last mile. These are all small enterprises that exist due to the fact that the IT and logistics platform work. All logistics are possible only thanks to the internal software, which was developed by our engineers, - said the general director of Ozon.

A company such as Ozon needs to restructure its business, taking IT into a separate company in order to receive benefits, says Dmitry Chernyshenko. In March, the Federal Tax Service explained that it was possible, for example, to allocate IT divisions to individual legal entities to obtain tax advantages.

How will we explain that we give logistics, couriers, managers the same benefit as IT workers? Chernyshenko remarked.

The founder and CEO of Wildberries Tatyana Bakalchuk says that taking into account the specifics of their business, it would be easier for them to separate everything that does not belong to IT - warehouses, logistics, the last mile, etc., than to try somehow from all the processes that penetrate the company like a nervous system, pull out IT specialists and concentrate them in a certain IT structure.

When Wildberries became a resident of Skolkovo, she created an IT company that develops. But it is impractical to bring all IT specialists into it. Around the world, companies like Amazon or eBay are considered IT companies, Bakalchuk said, while in Russia similar companies are classified as retail. She added that world solutions are not suitable for Russian players in the e-commerce market, so they are developing their own.

All the revenue that our companies receive is revenue from our IT solutions. Therefore, we wanted to ask that from this point of view we consider the application and expansion of the third package of support measures to marketplaces, and ask at least to some extent to consider the inclusion of marketplaces in terms of our own developments. We do not ask that this apply to logistics, warehouses or anything else, "said the head of Wildberries.

Dmitry Chernyshenko replied to this that it is necessary to talk in more detail so that measures to support the IT industry could be extended to e-commerce.

You offer engineers to leave, and everything else around, that is ten times more, to take outside the parent company. In principle, we don't care what to take out of. The main thing is that we help you to separately allocate your income from your digital activities and receive benefits for them separately, "summed up Dmitry Chernyshenko.

In Russia, the threshold for duty-free import of goods from foreign online stores has grown 5 times

In Russia, the threshold for duty-free import of goods from foreign online stores has grown 5 times - from 200 to 1000 euros. This was announced on March 21, 2022 by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a meeting with his deputies.

He clarified that the requirements for the weight of parcels will remain the same - it should not exceed 31 kg. If the cost of the parcel exceeds 1000 euros or its weight is more than 31 kg, it will be necessary to pay a duty of 15% of the order price, but at least 2 euros per 1 kg.^[19]

According to the prime minister, this decision was approved by the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission and will be valid until October 1, 2022. This measure will support citizens who order goods for personal use in foreign online stores, and avoid a shortage of goods, the EEC Council noted. In particular, users will be able to order goods abroad that no longer exist or almost do not exist on the Russian market. Responsible performers on the initiative are the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance and the FCS.

A new measure is needed to expand alternative channels for the supply of goods from abroad, believes Vladimir Salnikov, head of the real sector at TsMAKP. As a result of the actual closure of trade with European and American countries, trade in the Asian and Middle East direction will develop - with China, Turkey, etc., the expert says.

But still, the increased threshold should be considered as a temporary measure, it cannot continue for a long time, "he said in a conversation with Vedomosti.

In light of the departure of many foreign companies, consumers may be interested in foreign non-food products, Salnikov believes: household appliances, electronics, smartphones, clothing.

2021

Russia accounted for 14.6% of the total volume of retail online sales in the world

The largest online retailers: DNS entered the top 3 for the first time in 4 years

At the end of April 2022, the analytical company Data Insight published a rating of the largest Russian online stores for 2021. 14 new projects have added to the new list. At the same time, the threshold for entering the top 100 increased by 610 million rubles, or 22%.

The leaders of the rating remained the same: Wildberries almost doubled sales, to 805.7 billion rubles, for Ozon this figure increased 2.3 times - 446.7 billion rubles. Sales of Citylink, which closed the top three, in 2021 increased by a quarter - to 163.4 billion rubles. The network eventually took fourth place in the ranking.

According to the results of 2021 , the DNS network for the first time since 2017 entered the top three largest online retailers, registering sales in the amount of 185 billion rubles. Compared to 2020, this figure increased by 41%. In 2021, the Internet segment grew mainly in small cities where there is no high competition and the DNS network is widely represented, explained Boris Ovchinnikov, partner at Data Insight. In 2021, the company increased its store chain by 20%, bringing it to 2,789 locations in more than a thousand Russian cities .

The total sales of the 100 largest online retailers in Russia reached 3.4 trillion rubles - 1.6 times more than in 2020. The total number of orders increased 2.2 times, to 1.59 billion.

The largest annual sales growth was shown by Yandex.Eda (+ 858% to 11.5 billion rubles), Lenta (+ 812% to 10 billion rubles), Perekrestok (+ 658% to 12 billion rubles), Kazanexpress (+ 558% to 8.6 billion rubles), Rigla (+ 375% to 7.14 billion rubles).

The segment of consumer goods as a whole, according to the rating, in 2021 grew 2.5 times and reached 315 billion rubles.

Experts also stressed that in 2021 the Internet segment grew due to small cities where there are no competitors and the DNS network is widely represented, the company increased its network by 20% - to 2789 points in more than 1000 cities of Russia.^[20]

77% of Russian entrepreneurs consider Internet sales to be the main condition for business survival

On January 21, 2021, the conclusions of the Visa study became known, according to which small and medium-sized businesses see opportunities for survival in a pandemic by increasing sales on the Internet. This was told by 77% of entrepreneurs already working online. They noted that over the past three months, more than a third of their income (37%) has come from online sales. Read more here.

The market for online retail exports of goods from Russia soared by 31%

The volume of the online retail export market for goods from Russia in 2021 reached $1.51 billion, an increase of 31% compared to 2020. Such data in December 2021 was published by the Data Insight research agency.

According to the report, the number of export orders of Russian online sellers increased at a faster pace - in 2021, the number of export parcels increased by a record 86% and amounted to 50.9 million shipments.

Among the popular online sites, eBay retained its leadership in 2021 - it was used by 34% of sellers for sales abroad, that is, every third online exporter in Russia. Also, among the priority channels for cross-border trade, sellers highlight Instagram (33%) and their own website and/or mobile application (26%).

In terms of categories, "clothes and shoes" are leading, occupying 40% of online retail exports from Russia. In 2021, the cosmetics segment grew seriously, adding 102%. Even more noticeable growth was recorded in the category "books, games, discs, vinyl" - it increased by 151%. The lead in moving up was taken by the subcategory of the section "goods for home and interior" - "goods for the garden and garden," becoming more by 2000%.

Goods produced in Russia are competitive in the markets of non-CIS countries. Online sales trading models are competitive in the markets of neighboring countries, says Fedor Virin, partner at Data Insight. - At the same time, Russian manufacturing companies really need help in organizing online retail export processes, since they do not have the appropriate experience, competencies.

According to him, the stage of working with marketplaces in Russia is 3-5 years shorter than in China or the United States, companies in Russia have not yet had time to get this experience even within the country. The development of the service ecosystem is a key task of the market, the expert added.^[21]

Deferral of marking codes in agency checks until April 20, 2022

Government of the Russian Federation supported the request of the Association of Companies Internet-trade () AKIT to postpone the mandatory indication of codes markings in agency checks.

On July 14, 2021, AKIT reported that the Russian government published a decree in which enterprises that deliver orders to customers of online stores (courier and delivery services, marketplaces and other companies operating under the agency scheme) received a deferral until April 20, 2022 for the use of props "product code" in cash checks and strict reporting forms.

Additional props in checks were introduced for goods subject to mandatory labeling, for July 2021 these are tobacco fur coats-,,,, footwear drugs cameras and flash lamps, tires and tires, goods,,. light industry The code perfume and toilet water dairy products identifications allows you to ensure traceability and the formation of a transparent environment during the circulation of such goods.

However, the implementation of the requirement for the use of props "product code" in remote trading caused a number of difficulties. For example, if you include props in a check that is formed at the time of payment by the buyer, it becomes necessary to search for these products in a warehouse where hundreds of thousands of goods with the same article number can be stored, and this inevitably increases operating costs. Another option is to indicate the "product code" in the second check, when physically transferring the goods to the buyer. But in this case, the cost of fiscal drives increases, since the amount of memory in them will decrease twice as quickly.

As of July 2021, 70,240 legal entities operate in the field of Internet trade in Russia, of which 18690 are individual entrepreneurs. In 2020, buyers made more than 2.8 billion online orders (7.7 million orders per day). In 2020, more than 12 thousand fiscal drives were used in the field of online commerce (with a maximum volume of 250 thousand checks), with a total market value of more than 81 million rubles. The need to form two checks for each operation will increase these costs in the industry exactly twice - up to 162 million rubles.

At the same time, in some situations, the output of the "product code" through a check is impossible, for example, when selling goods through a network of checkpoints.

AKIT sent relevant appeals with a description of the problems and a request to postpone the mandatory indication of codes in agency checks in the spring of 2021 to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service.

We are very glad that the arguments of the Association were heard, and we are grateful to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service of Russia that our proposal to postpone the mandatory indication of marking codes found support. This regulation saves the industry from the inevitable twofold cost of fiscal savings. At the same time, we understand the importance of introducing mandatory labeling, and urge all industry companies to use the grace period to find possible solutions for transferring the necessary data to the product traceability system. said AKIT president Artem Sokolov.

Start the service for automatic addition of certificates in product cards in online stores

At the end of April 2021, the Federal Accreditation Service (Rosaccreditation) launched a service to check the status of declarations and certificates of goods in online stores. The project was supported by marketplaces Wildberries and Ozon, as well as retailer Metro Cash & Carry. Read more here.

Inventive eCommerce: 10-15% of all online sales in Russia were made using the D2C model

On March 16, 2021, Inventive eCommerce (part of Inventive Retail Group) announced that by the end of 2020, 10-15% of all online sales in Russia were made using the D2C model (direct-to-consumer, direct sales). During the pandemic, manufacturers preferred to work with consumers directly, without distributors and retail chains. The launching D2C projects, in turn, stimulated the development of the outsourcing market of the eCom infrastructure: brands turned to specialized companies to speed up the launch of online sales channels and optimize the cost of building this business area.

Inventive eCommerce experts analyzed the eCom infrastructure outsourcing market in Russia. The first projects started back in the 2000s, nevertheless, the active formation of the segment began only in 2018, when global manufacturers began to massively launch D2C projects in the world and in Russia. Not all cases were successful: some brands faced internal bureaucratic procedures that delayed the start of projects; others - did not provide the required amount of localization; third - did not take into account logistics procedures and country specifics.

The growth of e-commerce, consumer demand, the economic consequences of the pandemic in 2020 prompted brands to take a more balanced approach to organizing online sales channels. Manufacturers began to reduce the number of intermediaries, preferring direct contact with the buyer, and transfer full-fledged D2C projects to outsourcing. Thus, in 2020, the Russian eCom infrastructure outsourcing market received an impetus for development.

Six players prevail in the Russian eCom infrastructure outsourcing market: Inventive eCommerce (Russia), Aristos (Russia), Kupivip ( Russia), ArvatoRus (Germany), eSolutions (Germany), Lamodab2b (Singapore). They lead more than 90% of all projects existing in the country as of March 2021. In total, several dozen companies provide services for the full creation and maintenance of the eCom infrastructure of manufacturers in the Russian Federation.

Previously, D2C sales appeared in brands of digital and household appliances, furniture and household goods, as well as clothing and shoes. The total share of these areas in the domestic eCom infrastructure outsourcing market exceeds 80% as of March 2021. Companies from other industries also have an interest in outsourcing: beauty/health, auto parts, tools/garden equipment, products for children, sports goods, pharma, jewelry.

Each case for building online retail for brands is special. The most popular services: creation of a store, and Internet mobile applications brand zones on marketplaces, fulfillment, delivery of goods, organization of offline showrooms. In addition, the services of the organization contact center and customer support services, outsourcing IT solutions, marketing promotion in the network are in demand. Manufacturers usually purchase a range of services.

For the vast majority of brands, the main argument in favor of outsourcing eCom infrastructure is a quick start, a reduction in time to market (from the beginning of the development of an idea to the market). In addition, the launch of eCom cases means upgrading the brand's IT infrastructure, integrating with its existing systems, choosing more than 14 different contractors and services. If the eCom distributor has the creation of a D2C sales channel, before the start of the first sales, it will take from two to four months, then the brand has an average of 12-16 months. It can take up to three years for a significant volume of sales with an independent exit from the manufacturer.

Outsourcing of eCom infrastructure allows the brand to launch online sales channels according to the D2C model without significant initial investments, since the eCom distributor provides its infrastructure with a ready staff of qualified specialists. In addition, work in local markets requires the business to know the legal subtleties, the peculiarities of customs rules. It is also necessary to take into account the variety of IT integrations and service solutions, multi-level processes of interaction with marketplaces.

In 2021, as in subsequent years, the growth of D2C projects with the involvement of partners will continue. Gradually, the Russian eCom infrastructure outsourcing market will develop its own rules, comprehensive approaches, and expand the services presented. New companies and leaders will come to the market, M&A deals will take place.

The flexibility and convenience of the model interested not only brands working with retail, but also manufacturers focused on the b2b market. The first attempts to build D2C sales in cooperation with eCom distributors are made by representatives of the aircraft industry, machine-building and machine-building enterprises, metallurgy, and petrochemistry. Thus, direct sales and outsourcing of eCom infrastructure for the next few years will become the brightest trend in the Russian eCommerce market.

2020

Russia was in 30th place for purchases of goods via the Internet

In December 2021, the Institute for Statistical Research and Knowledge Economics HSE released, together Ministry of Digital Development Russia Rosstat with a new statistical collection from the Digital Economy Indicators series. One of the items of the study is devoted to the activity of Russians in terms of online shopping.

According to the report for 2020, 40% of Russian residents order goods and services via the Internet. According to this indicator, Russia is in 30th place among 34 countries that were included in the research. The leaders are Great Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden with indicators from 84% to 90%, which more than double the share in Russia.

Analysts called the main restraining factors for the development of online commerce in Russia:

• the habit of traditional formats (51.5% of citizens indicated this);
• lack of need/desire/interest in online purchases (35.5%);
• mistrust of orders of goods and services online (17%).

Among Russians who order goods and services via the Internet, 60.7% buy clothes, shoes and sports goods in this way. 44.3% use this method to purchase financial services, 28.6% - household items. Users are least likely to buy creative goods and hobbies via the Internet (9%), video games and updates for them (6.7%) and software (5.3%).

According to a study by the Paperclip payment service, published in mid-July 2021, about 40% of Russians make purchases online up to four times a month. Among the main reasons motivating to buy on the Internet, respondents named convenience (88%), time savings (74%) and money (52%). Another 22% of respondents buy online once every three months, 26% - once every six months. 12% of the study participants do not yet use the services of online stores.^[22]

Sales of cosmetics via the Internet in Russia increased by 158%, to 95 billion rubles

In 2020, 83 million orders for the purchase of cosmetics were made in Russian online stores, which is 158% more than a year earlier. In money, the market volume grew by 99%, to 95 billion rubles with an average purchase check of 1,150 rubles (-23% by 2019). This is evidenced by the data of the analytical company Data Insight, released in early August 2021. Read more here.

The share of online commerce in Russia doubled and reached 3.9% - Rosstat

According to the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), in 2020, online sales accounted for 3.9% of retail trade turnover in the Russian Federation against 2% in 2019. Thus, the share of e-commerce almost doubled over the year, which was largely facilitated by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic - because of it, people began to spend more time at home and order goods on the Web.

The largest share of the online sales channel was registered in Moscow - 9.3% at the end of 2020, while a year earlier the indicator was measured at 9.3%. Novosibirsk is in second place (8% and 5.3%, respectively), Sevastopol is in third place (7.8% and 2.9%, respectively). In St. Petersburg, annual Internet sales reached 7.3% of the total in retail against 4.5%% in 2019.

In the Volga Federal District, the share of online trade increased to 2.5% from 1.1% in 2019, in the Urals - to 2.8% from 1.3%, in the Far East - to 1.5% from 0.4%.

In general, in the Central Federal District, the share of online trading at the end of 2020 amounted to 6.1% (3.2% a year earlier). In the Siberian Federal District, the share increased to 3.2% from 1.9% a year earlier, and in the Northwestern Federal District this figure was 4.4% in 2020 and 2.7% in 2019.

The lowest penetration of online commerce is observed in the North Caucasus Federal District - 0.5% (0.3% in 2019). In the Chechen Republic, the indicator turned out to be zero, as a year earlier (in 2018, online trade in the region accounted for 0.1%).

According to Rosstat, amid the pandemic, the growth of the Russian e-commerce market accelerated (in previous years, the share of online commerce grew more slowly: in 2018 it was 1.7%, in 2017 - 1.3%, in 2016 - 1.2%, in 2015 - 0.9%, in 2014 - 0.7%). It is predicted that the Russian e-commerce market by 2024 will amount to 2.78 trillion rubles.^[23]

The largest online stores in Russia

In April 2021, the Data Insight research agency announced an updated rating of the largest online stores in Russia. The first place in 2020 was retained by Wildberries with revenue of 413.2 billion rubles, which is 96% more than a year ago.

Ozon was ahead of Citylink and took second place in the list, registering revenue of 197 billion rubles. Compared to 2019, it increased by 144%. Citylink's revenues rose 47% to 132.7 billion rubles.

M.Video and DNS changed places: in 2020, DNS increased online sales by 117%, to 116.7 billion rubles (12 million orders), and M.Video had a twofold growth, to 113.2 billion rubles (8.9 million orders). Online store "Eldorado" rose from 8th to 6th place.

Compared to the rating for 2019 in 2020, 19 new projects appeared on the list that were not included in the same top last year. In total, the 100 largest online retailers in Russia delivered 719 million orders in 2019, which is almost double the figures for 2019. The volume of sales in rubles in the amount of the top 100 increased by 78% to 2.09 trillion rubles.

Most of all ordered for Wildberries - 305 million orders, Ozon - 73.8 million, Аптеке.ру - 32.2 million, Detsky Mir - 24.3 million and AliExpress Russia - 19 million.

The largest average check at the Notik technology store is 86 thousand rubles, the KNS online computer and office equipment store is 59.2 thousand rubles and Apple is 54.1 thousand rubles.

For various reasons, such well-known stores as Ulmart, Oldi, Mamsy, Mytoys, Aizel and others did not survive a difficult 2020. In "Ulmart" litigation continued, even the store's website stopped opening. Aldie, which was on the verge of closing in 2019, left only one offline store.^[24]

Growth of the e-commerce market by 58%, to 2.7 trillion rubles - Data Insight

The volume of the Russian e-commerce market in 2020 reached 2.7 trillion rubles, an increase of 58% compared to 2019. This is evidenced by Data Insight data.

Analysts associated the doubling of market growth rates compared to 2019 (then there was a rise of 28%) with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, due to which people began to spend more time at home and order goods via the Internet.

In 2020, Russians made about 830 million such orders against 465 million a year earlier. Almost half of sales fell on large marketplaces - Wildberries, Ozon, Aliexpress Russia and Yandex.Market. Over the year, 405 million orders were issued at these sites (+ 78% by 2019) in the amount of 721 billion rubles (+ 108%). The average check on marketplaces was estimated by experts at 1780 rubles.

The volume of the rest of the online market (excluding large marketplaces, as well as the sale of food and medicine) in 2020 increased by 38% to 1.7 trillion rubles. In 2020, 278 million orders were made, and the average check reached 6205 rubles.

The eGrocery market became the leader in growth in 2020 (includes all sales of specialized online stores and food delivery services). In total, it grew by 250% (in money) and amounted to 130 billion rubles (69 million orders).

In 2020, new segments were added to the B2C trading market, which were not in previous years. In particular, ePharma. During the year, 78 million orders were sold, which corresponds to 131 billion rubles.

The study says that the volume of the online retail export market in Russia amounted to $1.16 million. Compared to last year, the number of shipments increased by 11.7 million, and the average check decreased by 19%.

The top 3 categories of the largest Russian online stores include electronics and household appliances, household goods and repairs, clothing and shoes.^[25]

Online sales of children's products up 76% - Data Insight

Sales of children's goods via the Internet in Russia at the end of 2020 increased by 76% in monetary terms and by 112% in kind compared to 2019. This is evidenced by data from the Data Insight research agency. Read more here.

Growth of online sales between individuals in the Russian Federation by 87%

Online sales between individuals in Russia in 2020 for the first time exceeded 1 trillion rubles. In comparison with 2019, the turnover increased by 87%, and the number of transactions during this time increased by 70% and exceeded 300 million. Such data are provided in a study prepared by the Avito service and the Data Insight research agency.

As Vedomosti writes with reference to Mikhail Burmistrov, General Director of Infoline Analytics, such growth rates are ahead. They are higher than the dynamics of the organized Internet trade market: according to Data Insight estimates, it grew by 44% in 2020, to 2.5 trillion rubles.

The report said the number of sellers and buyers in the C2C market reached 13.2 million and 13.3 million respectively in 2020. At the same time, the number of transactions per seller per month increased: in 2017, on average, the seller had one transaction per month, in 2019 - 1.3, in 2020 - 2.3. Thus, sellers already operating on the market are more active and increase sales.

Over 1.5 years, the share of private sellers for whom sales are the main or significant source of income has almost doubled, reaching 11% in November 2020 with 6% in the spring of 2019. At the same time, for most private sellers (76%), trading remains insignificant and irregular income, or they do not consider sales as earnings at all.

In 2020, the share of men among C2C sellers increased sharply to 63%, which experts attribute to the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic: a temporary decrease in employment among working men forced them to look for other sources of income. The number of sellers aged 35-44 has also grown.

Ad services remain the most popular channel for private sales in Russia. At the end of 2020, 87% of sellers and 88% of buyers used them. The share of sellers using social networks for sales increased from 28% to 34%.^[26]

Growth of the Russian online trading market by 1.6 times, to 3.22 trillion rubles - AKIT

In 2020, Russians spent 3.22 trillion rubles on online purchases of goods, which is 1.6 times more than a year earlier. E-commerce accounted for 9.6% of the total retail market in the Russian Federation, according to data from the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT).

A year ago, it was difficult to assume that the volume of the online trading market could grow so much, and we will overcome the bar of more than 3 trillion rubles. The pandemic has pushed the market to develop new services in demand among Russians, for example, express delivery, - said AKIT President Artem Sokolov, quoted by the press service of the association.

According to him, in 2020, examples appeared on the market when competing delivery services were presented on each other's sites, and unexpected collaborations when monobrand stores that already had their own Internet channel exhibited goods on other electronic platforms.

Most often, Russians in 2020 bought the following categories of goods via the Internet:

• electronics and household appliances (28.2%);
• clothing and footwear (21%);
• food (10.2%);
• furniture and household goods (9.2%);
• beauty and health (5.6%).

The share of the local Internet trade market in 2020 increased to 86%, the cross-border segment accounted for only 14% (in 2019 it was 71% and 29%, respectively). A significant decrease in the share of the cross-border market was associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and, as a result of restrictions on cargo transportation (for some time, delivery from foreign online stores was interrupted, delivery times were increased).

According to a study by AKIT, almost a quarter (24.7%) of online purchases in Russia at the end of 2020 were made in Moscow. Next are:

• Moscow region (8.3%);
• St. Petersburg (7.5%);
• Sverdlovsk region (2.5%);
• Rostov region (2.3%);
• Republic of Tatarstan (2.1%);
• Samara and Nizhny Novgorod regions (1.9% each);
• Krasnoyarsk Territory (1.6%).^[27]

Data Insight: The volume of e-commerce ros­sy­sko­go ryn­ka dos­tig 2.5 trillion rubles

On January 29, 2021 there was information that according to Data Insight (Deyt Insayt), the volume of the Russian e-commerce market in 2020 reached 2.5 trillion rub, having shown growth in relation to an indicator of 2019 for 44%. Without the impact of the pandemic, growth would be only 29%. At the same time 65% of the parcels delivered in 2020 are come to own logistic office of shops.

The average growth of Internet commerce (CAGR) from 2011 to 2019 was 28%. In 2019, the growth rate increased - primarily due to the investment of large stores and marketplaces in advertising and infrastructure. From 2019 to 2024, Data Insight predicts an average growth of 33.2% in online commerce. During this time, the market for material sales via the Internet will grow to 7.2 trillion rubles. The contribution of crisis factors to online sales will amount to 1.6 trillion rubles. in five years.

Logistics for e-commerce, it accounts for a small share of Russian logistics as a whole, but in 2020 it also showed growth. Pandemic and the adopted restrictions, the impact of which became the main factor in the decline in volumes, cargo transportation intensified the growth of the electronic trade and related logistics segment.

The volume of the Russian logistics market for e-commerce, according to Data Insight, in 2020 amounted to 883 million shipments. The assessment is based on data from logistics companies and Russian Post, as well as Data Insight data on the number of shipments in the e-commerce market. The assessment takes into account C2C sales, which are carried out by individuals through social networks and specialized sites, and MLM. The assessment does not include the import, export and sale of food. The volume of Wildberries and Ozon is calculated by the number of orders, not shipments (in some cases they do not match).

Data Insight estimates the total number of points of issue (with different addresses) in Russia at more than 50 thousand. This number includes classic PVZ (39%), postamates (34%) and retail PVZ (27%). In addition, the issuance of orders is available in pharmacy chains and branches of the Russian Post. In 2020, 883 million shipments were delivered - 35% more than in 2019, 65% of parcels delivered in 2020 fall on the own logistics services of stores, 23% - on logistics companies, 12% delivered by mail.

According to Data Insight, the most popular delivery channel is PVZ and checkpoints. According to Data Insight, in the first half of 2020, 68% of all parcels were received through PVZ and postamates. The market leader, Wildberries, delivers 90% of all parcels via PVZ.

The assessment of the fulfillment market in 2020 is 27.5 billion rubles. and 109 million shipments. The cumulative CAGR since 2018 was 63%. At the same time, in 2019, Russian stores sent 24 million orders heavier than 10 kg and 7 million orders heavier than 30 kg. The categories with the largest share of oversize include tires and discs (here 95% of all orders are heavier than 10 kg), furniture (90% of orders are heavier than 10 kg) and goods for repair and construction (70%). In the first half of 2020, the average delivery time of orders from online stores in large Russian cities increased compared to 2019. In 2019, it was four days, and in 2020 - almost five.^[28]

Online exports of goods from Russia increased by 42%

The volume of online retail exports of goods from Russia at the end of 2020 is estimated at $1.16 billion, which is 42% higher than a year ago. Such data are provided in a study jointly conducted by eBay and Data Insight.

As Kommersant writes with reference to this report, in 2020 the number of parcels sent abroad from Russia will amount to 27.4 million, an increase of 75% on an annualized basis. A large share of export revenue fell on trading platforms with external logistics, and these are mainly global marketplaces - in 2020, Russian entrepreneurs earned $723 million (62%) on them, and the average check for an order is estimated at $125.

Online platforms with their own logistics, including the largest Russian marketplaces, will account for $437 million in total revenue (38%), and the average cost of departure will be $20.

eBay is the most popular export marketplace in Russia - it is used by every fifth online exporter for sales abroad (21% of all channels in 2020). Among other channels, sellers use their own website and mobile application to send orders to other countries (58%), as well as an Instagram account (38%) due to the lack of transaction fees.

In 2020, the number of regions with a share of eBay online exporters above the Russian average increased to 17 entities (against 11 in 2019). The top 10 most active of them included St. Petersburg, Moscow, Bashkiria, the Republic of Mari El, Tyumen, Moscow, Voronezh, Yaroslavl, Saratov and Omsk regions.

In addition to the weak ruble, sales were helped by the fact that the zero VAT rate on online exports came into force in April, said Alexander Ivanov, president of the National Association of Distance Trading.^[29]

Ministry of Finance: Russians must pay 13% tax for the sale of used things on Avito

In early September 2020, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation reminded Russians of the need to pay taxes on the sale of things on a general basis at a rate of 13%. This also applies to those who display their things on online platforms, on social networks and on sites with free ads.

The legislation on taxes and fees does not impose on electronic platforms and social networks, using which users sell property, the functions of tax agents, the Ministry of Finance explained to Vedomosti. - Therefore, such platforms and social networks cannot pay tax from user funds.

Such requirements are already contained in the Tax Code, the Federal Tax Service reminds. When receiving income from the sale of property belonging to them on the right of ownership less than the maximum established period, individuals calculate and pay personal income tax on such income on their own, the department noted in a commentary to the publication.

According to Dmitry Kletochkin, partner of the law firm Rustam Kurmaev and Partners, the amount of transactions and tax is sufficient to be attractive to the state, but he doubts that it will track microtransactions on websites with ads.

The newspaper cites the results of a study by Data Insight and Avito, which says that in 2019, Russians carried out transactions through sites worth 568 billion rubles. 60% of sellers offer already used things, and 29% - new ones that do not fit them.

After the publication of Vedomosti, the Ministry of Finance made a public statement, according to which the department does not propose introducing new taxes on personal income from the sale of used things on Internet sites. Within the framework of the current legislation, the obligation to pay tax, as a rule, does not arise, the ministry stressed.

In addition, the department recalled that the Tax Code provides for a property tax deduction in the amount of 250 thousand rubles for the tax period.^[30]

Development of rules for online sales of goods by the Ministry of Trade

At the end of August 2020, it became known about the development by the Ministry of Industry and Trade  of Russia of new rules for the online sale of goods. They will replace outdated norms that expire on January 1, 2021.

Among the main initiatives is the equalization of online trading in rights with offline retail. For example, to introduce a ban on the return of goods that belong to the category of non-refundable. In particular, mobile phones, underwear, perfume and cosmetic products, personal hygiene and household chemicals. This proposal was made by the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) for the development of e-commerce, Izvestia clarifies with reference to the chairman of the committee Alexei Fedorov.

Now the law on consumer protection says that a citizen can return any goods to the online store within seven days, including those goods that are not subject to return in ordinary offline trade: underwear, perfumes and cosmetics, new electronics and equipment. Offline returning such things is quite difficult. We want to make the same rules for both one and another type of trade, "he said.

According to Fedorov, a lot of goods are bought "to see," and then they return. When a person simply wants to make a purchase, it turns out "pure water abuse of the rule." Therefore, it is necessary to protect not only the consumer, but also the manufacturer and the seller, he concluded.^[31]

To protect the rights of buyers of online sites, the rules will contain provisions governing the features of remote trading. The rules are formed in such a way that a reasonable balance of the rights and obligations of sellers and consumers, as well as the principle of fairness, is observed, the Ministry of Trade said in a statement.

Moscow will reimburse business for 50% of online trading costs

On April 28, 2020, information was published on the official portal of the mayor and the government of Moscow that part of the costs of online trading in small and medium-sized businesses would be reimbursed from the city budget.

Entrepreneurs will be able to calculate a subsidy for compensation up to 50% of the commission of the Internet site, where information about goods and services is posted. The maximum amount of the subsidy is 700 thousand rubles.

Previously, businessmen could receive a subsidy only if placed on sites that take a commission of up to 20% of the cost of goods. At the end of April, the subsidy became available to suppliers of marketplaces and food delivery services from the approved list, regardless of the size of the placement fee.

If the commission exceeds 20%, the subsidy for business will be calculated based on a rate of 20%, and the amount of payment will be 10% of the cost of products, according to a statement on the website of the Moscow mayor's office.

The subsidy was approved on March 31 and was included in the second package of business support measures in Moscow. On April 17, the list of approved Internet sites whose services for the placement of goods and services can be compensated for with subsidies was expanded.

We are interested in making our support tool as popular as possible, so we promptly adjusted the conditions for providing a subsidy so that the support measure we approved would be an accessible tool for everyone and the maximum number of SMEs could use it, "said Alexei   Fursin, head of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development of the city of Moscow.

According to him, the ability to partially compensate for the costs of online promotion of their products in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is important for all representatives of small and medium-sized businesses - regardless of the size of the commission of their partners.^[32]

2019

The share of online sales rose to 2%

The share of online sales in retail to trade Russia increased to 2% in 2019 against 1.7% a year earlier. In 2014-2017, the figures were measured at 0.7%, 0.9%, 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively, according to the Federal state Statistics Service (). Rosstat

According to the department's calculations, the highest share of online commerce - 3.2% - was in the Central Federal District. And the lowest figure of 0.3% was registered in the North Caucasus Federal District.

In Moscow, the share of online trading amounted to 4.3% against 3.2% a year earlier, and in St. Petersburg - increased by 0.3 percentage points and reached 4.5%. The maximum share of online sales took place in the Novosibirsk region (5.3%).

In the Moscow region, the share of online sales in 2019 decreased to 4.7% from 4.9% in 2018. In the Leningrad region, the value decreased from 1.5% to 1.4%.

According to Rosstat, retail trade turnover in Russia in 2019 amounted to 33 trillion 532.1 billion rubles (including the turnover of trade in food products, including drinks, and tobacco products - 16 trillion 62.3 billion rubles, non-food products - 17 trillion 469.8 billion rubles). Thus, the online segment received revenue of about 670.62 billion rubles.

In the first half of 2020, the Russian online trading market, especially in the food segment, is growing at an accelerated pace due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. According to the National Association of Distance Trading (NADT), food products in the Russian online account for less than 3% of total sales. At the same time, in 2019, the monthly growth was no more than 5%.

In 2019, the volume of the Russian online trading market in monetary terms amounted to $16.3 billion (+ 58% by 2018). The number of orders amounted to 375 million (+ 66%) with a decrease in the average check by 12% - to 2.6 thousand rubles, according to^[33]2%

Compiled the top 10 largest online stores in Russia

On April 9, 2020, the analytical agency Data Insight (Data Insight) published a rating of the largest online stores in Russia. For the first time, an online pharmacy entered the top 10 - the apteka.ru service, which in 2019 rose to 6th place with the 13th a year earlier.

The rise in apteka.ru was due to a development strategy, says Boris Ovchinnikov, partner at Data Insight. The company began to invest more actively in advertising, partnership with other online pharmacies, introduced a more aggressive pricing policy, improved its logistics capabilities, he explained.

The Beru marketplace soared in a year in the ranking from 52nd to ninth place. Also in the top 10 was the Tmall platform. The latter  took eighth place in the ranking at the end of 2019.  Beru ensured its growth rate in 2019 by actively recruiting loyal customers and connecting new partners, its representative explained. The company invested in logistics infrastructure, marketing, and range expansion. The growth in sales in different categories  on AliExpress is associated with the growth of the range and sellers, said its representative.

According to Ovchinnikov, M.Video and Svyaznoy, like other players in the electronics market, have become hostages that this segment is no longer growing offline and cannot grow quickly on the Internet: most of the sales are already online.^[34]

According to the results of 2019, a dozen leaders of the Russian e-commerce market are as follows:

• Wildberries: online sales - 210.6 billion rubles;
• Citylink: online sales - 90.4 billion rubles;
• Ozon: online sales - 80.7 billion rubles;
• M.Video: online sales - 57.5 billion rubles;
• DNS: online sales - 53.7 billion rubles;
• apteka.ru: online sales - 34.2 billion rubles;
• Lamoda: online sales - 33.2 billion rubles;
• Tmall: online sales - 31.1 billion rubles;
• "I take": online sales - 27.7 billion rubles;
• Eldorado: online sales - 27.6 billion rubles.

Internet retailers asked Sobyanin to create parking lots for couriers

At the end of December 2019, Association of Internet Commerce Companies representing the interests of large Russian online stores (marketplaces and X5 Group, Ozon Wildberries home appliances stores and "," electronic engineers "M.VideoDorado as well as specializing in clothing Lamoda and online hypermarket" "), Duck-bill wrote a letter to the mayor Moscow Sergey Sobyanin with a request to create additional places for parking couriers.

Due to the fact that the Internet trade market in Moscow is one of the most dynamically developing, I appeal to you, dear Sergei Semenovich, with a request to consider the possibility of creating additional parking areas for courier and delivery services with free parking up to 30 minutes to transfer the order to the client or to the pick-up point, the message says (quoted by RIA Novosti).

The association is confident that one courier car can replace 20-30 private cars on the road due to the fact that people will refuse to visit traditional stores in favor of online trading. Thus, online trading will reduce the burden on the transport system of Moscow by stimulating an increase in the number of online orders. At the same time, delivery services, which are the main driver of market growth, in e-commerce connection with the innovation, "will improve at times," according to a letter signed by the president. AKIT Artyom Sokolov

AKIT estimates the volume of the Russian market for goods sold via the Internet at 2.2 trillion rubles at the end of 2019. This is a third more than in 2018. Moscow accounted for 500 billion rubles against 400 billion rubles a year earlier.

AKIT unites players in the e-commerce market, which by the end of 2019 account for over 40% of the Russian online trading market.^[35]

The threshold for duty-free import of goods can be reduced to 20 euros

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to consider his (Siluanov) proposal to significantly reduce the threshold for duty-free import of goods from foreign online stores into Russia within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The innovation, the discussion of which at the EAC was entrusted to Medvedev, implies lowering the threshold to 20 euros (1410 rubles). At the time of publication of the material, the size of the threshold was 500 euros (35.2 thousand rubles^[36]

This initiative does not include reducing the threshold for duty-free import to 200 euros (14.1 thousand rubles at the Central Bank exchange rate as of December 11, 2019) - this norm will in any case enter into force on January 1, 2020.

According to TASS, citing the press secretary of Prime Minister Oleg Osipov, if the initiative is adopted, the first radical reduction in the duty-free import threshold may take place no later than July 1, 2020. In six months it will be reduced to 100 euros (7044 rubles). The second stage will take place on January 1, 2021 - the threshold will be reduced to 50 euros (3522 rubles).

The transition to the third stage and 20 euros will have to wait another year - it is tentatively scheduled for January 1, 2022. It should be noted that Dmitry Medvedev himself approves such changes. "In general, I agree. Prepare proposals for consideration at the Council of Heads of Government of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), "the Prime Minister's resolution said in a letter to Siluanov. Nevertheless, the approval of the head of the Russian Government does not mean that innovations are inevitable. "The decision will still be discussed, including in the Eurasian Commission," said Oleg Osipov.

The Ministry of Finance proposed to increase to 500 rubles. customs duty on parcels from foreign online stores

On July 24, 2019, information appeared that the authorities are proposing to increase to 500 rubles. customs duty on goods that are imported into Russia by individuals for personal use. The corresponding paragraph is contained in the draft government decree "On the rates of customs duties for customs operations related to the release of goods."

The developer of the resolution was the Ministry of Finance. The document is published on the website regulation.gov.ru. The project is at the stage of independent anti-corruption expertise, which will end on July 29. If the resolution is adopted, it will enter into force on January 1, 2020.

When performing customs operations in relation to goods imported into the Russian Federation by individuals for personal use, with the exception of those imported by individuals without paying customs duties, taxes, or with exemption from paying customs duties, taxes... customs fees for customs operations are paid in the amount of 500 rubles, the document says.

Customs duty is a co-payment that is paid along with customs duty. Since 2004, a customs fee of 250 rubles has been established for parcels from abroad. It is paid only if the value of the goods exceeds the duty-free threshold.

Since the beginning of 2019, Russians have been paying duties for importing online purchases from abroad more than 500 euros. This should be the total cost of all orders per person within a month, while the total weight of parcels should not exceed 31 kg. Prior to that, it was possible to import purchases worth up to 1 thousand euros per month duty-free. From the beginning of 2020, purchases from 200 euros will begin to be subject to duties, at the same time the duty rate will decrease from 30% to 15% of the customs value.^[37]

Sales of household appliances online for the first half of the year

Handelsblatt: How Russia is turning into a great IT power

On February 15, 2019, the German business newspaper Handelsblatt published an article with the headline "How Russia Turns Into a Great IT Power." Journalists paid special attention to Yandex. 

The publication noted that Yandex in 2018 increased revenue by 36% to $1.8 billion, and profit - by 430% to $660 million. The company, whose shares have been trading on the Nasdaq since 2011, is moving in a direction to become "Russian Amazon, Google, Uber and TomTom at the same time," observers said.

The rise of Yandex is largely facilitated by rapid development e-commerce in the Russian Federation. According to analysts, by GfK February 2019 Russia , there are more than 90 million Internet users, which is the largest indicator in. To Europe 75.4% of Russians have Internet access smartphones , and 59% of users access the network with help. At the same time, there are more smartphones in the country than people.

The potential of online trading in Russia is also high. If in 2017 sales of physical goods via the Internet were measured at $18 billion, then in 2020 and 2023 the turnover could reach $31 billion and $52 billion, respectively. The volume of the entire e-commerce market (including sales of goods and services) was estimated at $26 billion at the end of 2016 (Morgan Stanley data). 

The authors of the article indicate that despite the rapid rise of the online industry in Russia, there is no company that would unconditionally dominate this market. Morgan Stanley experts predict the emergence of a dominant Internet retailer by 2020, explaining that Russia by 2019 is at a turning point, being the last major emerging market without a leading Internet retailer.

By 2019, the four largest players in Russia control only 27% of the entire e-commerce market. For comparison, in the United States, leaders account for 63% of turnover, in China - at all 84%. The share of online trading in the Russian retail market is estimated by analysts at only 3%.

The situation in which Russian online retail is weakly consolidated may change dramatically, experts say, including Adrien Henni, leading analyst at East-West Digital News on cross-border sales to Russia. There are several reasons.

First, according to Nielsen researchers, 9 out of 10 Russians made purchases on the Internet at least once in their lives. Secondly, Sberbank and Yandex have created a joint venture on the basis of Yandex.Market, which they are going to make Russian Amazon. This cooperation, according to its participants, will give new opportunities to the e-commerce market, small and medium-sized businesses, will help increase the export of Russian goods and open the Russian market to foreign participants. The partners launched the  Beru online store, in which Sberbank invested $500 million.

The joint venture, which aims to connect the main consumer Internet platforms and online commerce in Russia, is also being developed by the Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group, telecom operator Megafon, VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). This project promotes cross-border and local online trading platforms and its own direct sales.

However, the Russian IT industry is not limited only to online trading, writes Handelsblatt. For example, the same Yandex develops unmanned vehicles, smart speakers, automotive multimedia systems, voice assistant, car sharing service and much more.

Our competitor is not Amazon, but classic sellers who do not produce anything, but sell everything they need for life, "says Mikhail Levin, head of the big data analysis group.

Meanwhile, the agency Germany Trade and Invest characterizes Russian entrepreneurs developing technology companies as "diligent, inventive and flexible in the implementation of ideas."^[38]

2018

Market growth by 59% to 1.66 trillion rubles - AKIT

In 2018, the volume of the Russian online trading market reached 1.66 trillion rubles, an increase of 59% compared to 2017. These growth rates were the highest since 2010, according to a study by the Association of Internet Commerce Companies (AKIT).

In 2015, 2016 and 2017, the market grew by no more than 20%. At the beginning of 2018, experts expected an annual rise of 15%. However, in reality, the dynamics turned out to be much higher, which experts explain the contribution made by small and medium-sized online sellers in the regions. In addition, the increase in popularity of some product categories, for example, the delivery of furniture and food, affected.

The most popular category of goods in Russia and in stores abroad remained "digital and household appliances" and "clothes and shoes." But buyers still prefer to buy equipment from local sellers (31% versus 28.3%).

This year, AKIT also changed the research methodology. New partners represented by Sberbank, OFD.ru, Admitad helped to use new data sources and new methods of counting.

Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of INFOLine Analytics, disagrees with AKIT's assessment, who told RBC that he was asked about the association's reports for 2017, where the indicators are significantly underestimated. Therefore, growth cannot be almost 60% and in reality it can be half as low, the expert is sure.

The head of Yandex.Market Maxim Grishakov explains the record growth in e-commerce by launching new sites and developing infrastructure. The fastest growing product categories on the marketplace are fresh food, beauty and health, an Ozon spokesperson said. Data Insight partner Fedor Virin cited the huge investment of players in advertising as the reason for the increase in the market^[39]

Later, on August 28, 2019, Radius Group executive director Zakhar Valkov said that one of the trends in the e-commerce market was the consolidation of the shares of the main market participants.

"For example, in the United States, the four largest online retailers occupy 63.3% of the market. More than 63% of the American e-commerce market is occupied by Amazon. Ebay is in second place, Apple is in third, and Walmart is in fourth. There is a similar trend in other countries, for example, in China and Russia, "the expert said.

He drew attention to the fact that the largest online retailer in Russia is Yandex.Market (10% of the Russian e-commerce market), Tmall and Alibaba (8.5% of the market) are in second place, Ozon is in third, and Wildberries is in fourth. In the next three to five years, the e-commerce market in Russia will develop, "taking away its share in traditional trade," Zakhar Valkov added. He noted that Yandex.Market's share of the total e-commerce market could grow to 25% by 2023.

61% of all online purchases Russians made with a PC

Picodi.com analysts analyzed transactions made by Internet users in 2018: from which devices purchases were made most often, how the average check changed during the year and for what time the peak of purchasing activity occurred.

Despite the fact that, according to global trends and indicators, most Internet traffic per se is generated by users, smartphones the predominant number of online purchases Russia in is still made from a PC (61%). Almost half as many purchases are made with (smartphones 35%), tablets and this rating accounts for only 4% of transactions. At the same time, it is for tablet users that the average check is the highest - more than 8700 rubles against 7500 rubles computers from and 5600 rubles from smartphones. Due to the fact that Android there are significantly more mobile devices on the platform than on, iOS the average purchase check with, in general smartphone , turned out to be close to the average user check of this particular one. operating system

Women still make the most purchases on the Internet (58%), the share of men is 42%.

4% of all purchases on the Internet are made by people over 55 years old. There are many other age groups: 6% of transactions occur in the age group of 45-54 years, 17% each - in the "solvent" youth of 18-24 years and the middle-aged group (35-44 years). Most of all, online shopping is preferred by people aged 25 to 34 years, in 2018 they accounted for 56% of all transactions in online stores on the Runet.

The largest average check falls on April and September, that is, on the months when new spring and autumn clothing collections appear on the shelves (namely, clothing occupies a leading place among the most popular categories of goods purchased via the Internet). During these periods, the shopping basket costs about 5600 rubles. Despite the fact that many retailers have boasted in recent years about the growth in sales and revenue from the Black Friday campaign, which falls at the end of November, the average check during this period is kept at the level of the average (about 5100 rubles). According to Picodi.com analysts, this can surely be explained by a huge number of discounts and lucrative offers. This also confirms the schedule of purchasing activity on the scale of the year. Only 6% of all annual purchases in online stores are in September. At the same time, the largest number of purchases falls on November and December - the time of Black Friday sales and preparations for the New Year holidays. The smallest average check is in January, when all gifts have already been handed over, all salads have been cut and eaten, and long-weekend tours have been bought and activated.

In the summer, purchasing activity is declining. The most active day of the week among Russian shopaholics is Friday (from mobile devices) and Monday and Friday (from computers).

[Image:Picodi.com_онлайн-шоппинг_в_России_в_2018_году5.png|840px]]

Almost 8% of all purchases occur at lunchtime (from 11:00 to 13:00), in the evening consumer activity is kept at the level of 5% -6% of the total daily indicator.

According to the Picodi.com, since the advent of numerous food delivery services, ready meals, fitness dinners, etc. this niche is a clear competition in the popularity of online orders. However, the top is still the most popular product in the fashion industry: clothes and shoes. The top five is closed by household appliances and electronics. A special place in the "most reading country in the world" is occupied by book shopping: literature took third place in the ranking of the most popular categories of purchases on the Internet. Following are goods for children, household goods, as well as online tickets and tickets.

Methodology

The study was based on internal Picodi.com data on online purchases made in Russia in 2018. ^[40]]

Export growth

Over the past two years, exports of goods through Russian online stores have increased from $430 million to $746 million. At the same time, the number of parcels sent increased from 7.9 million to 11.2 million. At the same time, the average check of a foreign buyer increased from $55 to $67^[41].

The market is projected to grow by about 36% in 2018. These conclusions were reached by experts from eBay and the research agency Data Insight (Data Insight), who published the results of market analysis. They note that this market has been showing double-digit growth for several years, as Russian online stores are selling more and more lively.

Analysts predict that the share of shipments of medium and small Russian Internet exporters will grow from 15% in 2016 to 36% as of the end of 2018. We are talking about stores that trade through marketplaces and deliver goods by mail. In general, the number of shipments from online stores will be reduced to 64% and will amount to 7.2 million in 2018.

According to Ilya Kretov, CEO of eBay in Russia, Israel and emerging markets in Europe, experts expected market growth of 14%, but instead of

Where the goods are sold

If we talk about sales to non-CIS countries, then in two years they showed an increase of 54%. During the same period, trade with the CIS countries increased by 114%. However, analysts warn that the market of the CIS countries is smaller than the market of non-CIS countries, and the rapid growth of exports in this case will cease over time.

In the medium and long term, researchers consider it more logical to concentrate on exports to countries in Europe, North America and other geographically distant countries. Among the reasons, they indicate higher Internet penetration in these regions and higher purchasing power than in the CIS.

In 2018, the shares of Belarus and Ukraine in Russian exports of goods purchased via the Internet amounted to 18.6% and 8.3%, respectively, showing an increase of 30-35% since 2016. Belarus generally ranks first in this indicator, followed by the United States with a share of 17% and Kazakhstan with a share of 12.8%. Russian exporters are actively selling to Belarus and Kazakhstan, since they are attracted by the increase in the number of Internet users in these countries, the ability to communicate with customers in Russian, the lack of customs clearance and reduced customs payments.

The United States is considered another promising market - due to the high solvency of buyers, cheap delivery and the lack of duties on the import of purchases worth up to $800.

The largest market players in 2017

On August 1, 2018, information appeared that according to the results of 2017, Wildberries and Lamoda became the largest players in the Russian online clothing and footwear market .

According to Data Insight (Data Insight), Wildberries leads by the end of 2017 with a share of 38% of online sales of thousands of the largest market players. Wildberries turnover for 6 months of 2018 reached 48 billion rubles: in the second quarter of 2018, growth amounted to 74%, in the first half of the year - 61%. The number of orders also increased: for the second quarter of 2018 - by 58%, for the entire half of the year - by 53%.

Accordingly, Lamoda ranks second in the Russian online clothing and footwear market, whose revenue, according to Kinnevik (one of the founders of the Global Fashion Group, which includes Lamoda), in 2017 increased by 32.8% to 405.1 million euros (over 29.76 billion rubles). Despite this, Lamoda ended 2017 with a record loss, as follows from the data of the SPARK-Interfax analytical system. ^[42] More details here.

On July 1, the authorities will increase duties on purchases in foreign stores

From July 1, 2018, goods purchased in foreign online stores worth 500 euros or more when imported into Russia will be subject to a duty. This was reported by TASS Information Agency of Russia with reference to the head of the Department of Customs and Tax Policy of the Ministry of Finance Alexei Sazanov^[43].

Recall that since the beginning of 2010, customs rules have been in force in Russia, according to which the duty is charged from the recipient of foreign parcels, if the goods cost more than 1 thousand euros or weigh more than 31 kg., this is the norm for one person per month. The amount of the duty is calculated as 30% for exceeding the norm by weight or price (but at least 4 euros per 1 kg).

Duties Program

As Sazanov specified, in the end, all purchases in foreign online stores can be charged with a duty, regardless of the cost, but this measure will be implemented no earlier than 2020. The proposal to tax all purchases was put forward by the Federal Customs Service (FCS). The FCS information systems will be assessed for readiness for innovations no earlier than 2020, Sazanov explained.

According to him, the introduction of duties should take place step by step, with an assessment of the workload of personnel and information systems at each stage. If at some point employees and systems are not ready to increase the flow of taxable goods, then first this problem will be solved - training people, setting up systems - and only then the program of distributing duties on more goods will continue.

2017

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade: e-commerce turnover is about 1 trillion rubles

In May 2018, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov said that the total e-commerce turnover in the country at the moment is about 1 trillion rubles, but it is much more important, according to the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, to note the fact that the share of online commerce in retail non-food trade is 7.2% of the total turnover in this segment. It is curious that Internet trade already occupies a very noticeable place in certain domestic Russian markets: in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, the share of e-commerce is 18%, thus coinciding with the weighted average share of online trade in the UK.

The Russian e-commerce market, unlike other national markets, is still weakly consolidated: according to experts, at least 40,000 online stores operate in the country, with only 50 sites accounting for about 70% of the turnover and volume of orders. On the one hand, such a situation indicates great diversity and high competition, which has a positive effect on consumer comfort and contributes to the emergence of new businesses. On the other hand, this indicates an increase in the share of cross-border trade.

RAEX: its participants consider uncertainty in the system of state regulation as a deterrent to the development of the e-commerce market

According to RAEX, the key factor hindering the development of the electronic inter-corporate trade market in Russia is the uncertainty associated with the reform of the state regulation system. This opinion is shared by 54% of the surveyed market participants. Respondents call market saturation the second most important factor (as 27% of respondents believe). Weak investment demand from companies and stagnation in the economy, as well as the low level of quality of services of electronic trading platforms, are the most important factors that have a negative impact, the absolute minority believes (8 and 11%, respectively).

According to the survey, the consolidation of services and the reduction in the number of electronic trading platforms operators will positively affect the ETP market. This is the opinion of the majority (54%) of the surveyed market participants and operators. Nevertheless, a significant proportion (35%) of respondents are of the opposite opinion. Only 12% believe that the possible consolidation will not have a significant impact on the development of the electronic market.

The survey participants did not agree on the impact that the existing system of state regulation has on the introduction of technological innovations in the electronic inter-corporate market. 42% of surveyed operators and market participants believe that this impact is negative. Exactly the same number of respondents believe that the existing system of state regulation stimulates the introduction of technological innovations. And only 15% are confident that the state regulation system does not affect the technological development of the infrastructure of the inter-corporate electronic market.

The majority of the conference participants surveyed (60%) believe that technological innovations will ensure the progressive, evolutionary development of the existing ETP services market. At the same time, there is a large share of operators and players in the inter-corporate e-commerce market who expect revolutionary changes on it under the influence of the introduction of technological innovations - this opinion is shared by 28% of respondents. A minority (12%) of respondents are confident that the hobby for new technologies is caused by fashion and neither operators nor participants in the electronic market need them.

Russian Post: Automatically charge a duty on online purchases more than 50 euros

Russian Post suggested that the government gradually reduce the threshold for duty-free import of goods from foreign online stores from a thousand to 50 euros^[44].

According to the enterprise, from 2019 the limit can be reduced to 200 euros, from 2020 - to 100, and from 2021 - to 50. The organization believes that a gradual transition will maintain the growth rate of cross-border e-commerce and at the same time lead to an increase in budget revenues in the medium term.

According to Russian Post estimates, now the cost of 93% of parcels coming from foreign online stores does not exceed 50 euros.

In addition, Russian Post proposes to improve the very technology of collecting duties, since now it requires significant time and financial costs. To reduce costs, the company is working with the Federal Customs Service on technology that will allow duties to be collected automatically when buying goods from an online store. By April 1, 2018, it is planned to test it on AliExpress, where Russians make up to 80% of all foreign purchases. Then the system will begin to be introduced at alternative sites.

Draft E-Commerce Development Strategy 2025

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation has published a draft strategy for the development of electronic trade until 2025. The Russian newspaper writes about this, referring to the head of the Ministry of Industry Denis Manturov. In his interview, the minister touched on some issues that should be addressed when implementing this strategy.

One of the topics is a decrease in the threshold for duty-free import of goods ordered in foreign online stores. Now it is 1000 euros, but from the beginning of 2019 it will be cut in half, and in a year it will be lowered to 200 euros per month.

Another question concerns the rights of customers, which should be the same both for online and offline trading not only in domestic online stores, but also in foreign ones. For example, you can return the product regardless of how it was purchased - in person or via the Internet.

Denis Manturov notes that for the comfortable operation of online stores in Russia, existing laws will be supplemented, and some bans will be removed. When paying for goods, various innovations are also planned, such as, for example, the selection of the settlement currency.

The draft is now presented for public discussion.

AKIT: Russian e-commerce continues to grow

The Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT) presented in September 2017 a report on the Russian e-commerce market for the first half of 2017. The market volume amounted to 498 billion rubles, which is 22% more than the same period last year. In general, according to the results of 2017, AKIT predicts the market volume at the level of 1.15 trillion rubles, which will be a quarter higher than the volume for 2016.

At the same time, the volume of cross-border trade in Russia in the first half of 2017 amounted to 178 billion rubles, which is 34% more than the same period last year. According to the results of the whole of 2017, AKIT predicts that the volume of cross-border trade will amount to 420 billion rubles - 39% more than it was in 2016.

The number of goods shipments from abroad amounted to 152 billion rubles in the first half of 2017, an increase of one and a half times compared to the same period in 2016. According to the results of 2017, AKIT predicts that the number of shipments will amount to 400 million - 70% more than it was in 2016.

The share of cross-border trade in the total volume of online trade in Russia (in monetary terms) in the first half of 2017 amounted to 37%, an increase of 4 percentage points. The average check of purchases in Russian online stores is 5.37 thousand rubles, purchases of Russians in foreign online stores - 3.4 thousand rubles. 90% of purchases of Russians in foreign online stores are on Chinese sites, the main of which is AliExpress.

It is especially difficult for Russian companies to compete with foreigners in the segment of children's clothes and shoes for children: there is no need for fitting and parents take goods for their children to grow. Russian Post began to open fitting rooms in post offices, which creates even greater difficulties for domestic sellers^[45]

AKIT E-Commerce Strategy 2017-2018-2025 Years

At the beginning of the year, the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT) developed and submitted for approval to the Ministry of Industry and Trade " Strategy for the Development of Electronic Commerce for 2017-2018 and until 2025." The document proposes to adopt a law on online retail, consider the main provisions for the activities of online trading platforms and aggregators and create a non-bank payment system for V2V, CNews said .

Purpose and plans

The main goal of the document is to promote the development of the online retail industry. The authors of the strategy emphasize that Russian companies should have equal rights with foreign market players, for which they need changes at the legislative level, which will establish "uniform rules of the game." In 2015, the volume of the e-commerce market in the V2S segment amounted to 760 billion rubles. and in the corporate (V2V) and public sector (B2G) - 550 billion rubles. If the planned measures in the document are implemented, then by 2019 the share of Russian online stores in the e-commerce market will be 80% (for comparison, 71% in 2015). It is planned that it will increase from 80 million rubles. up to 60 billion rubles. and the volume of additional budget revenues from cross-border trade, and the number of online stores registered in the Russian Federation will increase from 40 thousand to 80 thousand. The Ministry of Industry and Trade generally approved the strategy.

5 Problematic Points

What prompted AKIT to develop a strategy? First of all, the authors of the document are concerned about the growth of cross-border trade, the volume of which has increased 15 times over the past six years (in 2016 amounted to 320 billion rubles). 35% of the Russian online trading market in 2016 was occupied by foreign companies that do not pay taxes in the Russian Federation and are essentially exempt from customs duties. The strategy proposes to introduce a tool for taxing foreign online stores that sell their goods to Russians.

The second important point that AKIT participants wanted to draw attention to is the regulation of the activities of commodity aggregators, which now, posting inaccurate information about goods or sellers, are "a guaranteed channel for the sale of products from online stores violating the law," since they are not subject to the laws. The bill, which introduces responsibility for commodity aggregators for posted information, has already been sent by the Russian government to the State Duma.

Thirdly, the creators of the strategy believe that the Internet commerce sector as a whole requires separate legislative decisions. It is necessary at the level of laws to introduce the concept of an electronic transaction and requirements for its content (a list of necessary details, the procedure for changing and terminating contracts, etc.), to regulate offers that are created by automatic systems, to regulate the electronic document flow that is used in e-commerce (for example, to ensure the recognition in Russia of electronic signatures issued abroad). AKIT is in favor of creating a special register for electronic trading platforms and regulating their activities at the legislative level.

The fourth point on which the developers of the document focused is to stimulate the development of non-cash payments in electronic commerce. In their opinion, online stores should be obliged to introduce a non-cash payment mechanism for buyers, and in the B2B segment, allow legal entities to make payments, bypassing banks and using special payment cards with the ability to choose the currency of payments. Due to this, payments will be made with minimal commissions and the absence of a "double conversion" of currency. The central bank was asked to work out the possibility of creating such a payment system.

The fifth stumbling block was consumer protection. The authors of the strategy cite the following statistics: if from 2012 to 2016 the number of purchases in online stores increased 2.2 times, then the number of complaints received by Rospotrebnadzor about online stores during this period increased 5.5 times. The document draws attention to the need to strengthen work in this direction: establish uniform rules for the return of goods purchased on the Internet and in ordinary retail, develop mechanisms for pre-trial dispute resolution and online arbitration in electronic commerce, create an Ethics Code in the B2B segment in order for market participants to create a self-regulatory organization.

2016: AKIT data

According to the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT), in 2016 the Russian online sales market grew by 21%, a year earlier this figure was only 7%. But even despite this, online purchases in the total retail turnover of the Russian Federation account for only 3.3%. In the US, their share is three times more - 10%, and in the UK - 13%. Thus, today Internet trade is one of the segments of the economy with the most significant development potential.

2015: East-West Digital News

The volume of the domestic e-commerce market in Russia in 2015 reached 650 billion rubles or $10.5 billion. In ruble terms, the market grew by 16% compared to 2014, in dollar terms - decreased by 28%, follows from the report of the East-West Digital News agency.

In the domestic market, goods are purchased by a buyer in a Russian online store and do not cross the border after completing an application (for example, when buying on Ozon.ru (Internet solutions)).

In total, in 2015, consumers in Russia made 160 million purchases in the domestic e-commerce market - 10% more than a year earlier. On average, the order cost was p4050, which is also higher than in 2014 (3750).

The highest growth rates were demonstrated by: leisure products, pets and children, clothing, shoes and food products. On the other hand, electronics, household appliances, cosmetics and perfumes decreased in comparison with 2014.

In 2015, Chinese online stores accounted for more than 80% of all cross-border purchases made by Russians. For comparison, in 2014 this figure was 70%.

2014

AKIT data

The Association of Internet Trade Companies - AKIT determined the growth of the online trade market in Russia is almost a third higher in 2014 due to an increase in the number of Internet users in the regions and the development of mobile Internet^[46].

According to the Association, the volume of the Russian Internet trade market in 2014 amounted to 713 billion rubles, which is 31% higher than in 2013 (an increase of 34% to 544 billion rubles^[47].

Online retail growth rate in Russia, 2015

In 2014, out of 713 billion rubles. the share of tangible goods in monetary terms amounted to 464 billion rubles, 249 billion rubles. - intangible. The share of tangible goods increased to almost 67%, compared with 65% in 2013.

The key drivers of the market growth in 2014 were the growth of the number of Internet users in the regions and the development of mobile Internet, the report says. In 2014, the number of Internet users in Russia increased by 6.2% and reached 73 million. Purchases on the Internet during 2014 were made by 40 million people (55% of the total number of Internet users) against 30 million people (50% of the total number of Internet users) in 2013. More than 20% of users made purchases on the Internet using mobile devices in 2014.

Among the five most popular online stores in 2014, (in descending order of attendance): Ozon.ru (Internet solutions), Ulmart.ru, Mvideo.ru, Wildberries.ru and Svyaznoy.ru. Places from sixth to tenth were taken, respectively: Eldorado.ru, Citilink.ru, Dns-shop.ru, Lamoda.ru and Enter.ru.

Data from J'son & Partners Consulting

According to experts from J'son & Partners Consulting (Jason & Partners Consulting), the volume of the online trading market in 2014 exceeded 683 billion rubles and over the past 5 years has grown by an average of 42.5% per year. In 2014-2018, CAGR is expected to be at 7% per year. There are more than 40 thousand companies in the online trading market. The largest market segments remain "Household Appliances and Electronics" and "Hypermarkets."

J'son & Partners Consulting experts predict a 5% decrease in market volumes in 2015 due to the difficult macroeconomic situation. Then a slight recovery is expected by 2016 and market growth of more than 20% by 2017.

According to experts at J'son & Partners Consulting, cash remains the main means of paying for orders in online commerce. In the first half of 2014, compared to the same period last year, there was a sharp turn in consumer preferences, which increased the share of electronic payments by 2 times. There is a further tendency to reduce the share of cash in the overall structure of payment methods on the Russian Internet trading market.

Among the main trends and trends in the online trading market of the Russian Federation, J'son & Partners Consulting experts highlight the development of a multi-channel sales strategy: the largest players develop retail networks along with the development of online trading. Consolidation of individual segments also stands out: mergers and acquisitions of large players take place - in 2014 there was a merger of Sotmarket, Utinet and the E96 hypermarket. Mobile applications are developing in the Internet commerce market; There is an increase in mobile advertising in online store applications and the development of mobile payments.

The most visited segments of online commerce in 2014 are Hypermarkets, Clothing and Footwear, Coupon Services, as well as Household Appliances and Electronics. According to Yandex.wordstat request statistics, the largest number of requests in 2014 were for the Coupon Services, Furniture, Books and Multimedia segment.

In 2014, the attractiveness of the marketplace business model, Yandex.Market, increased and Sapato.ru became aggregators of online stores last year. In some segments of online commerce there is hyper-competition: a huge number of players are observed in the segments "Household appliances and electronics," "Clothes and shoes," "Delivery of dishes," which is due to low entrance barriers and high popularity of segments among consumers. The share of e-books is gradually increasing in the commodity structure of the "Books and Multimedia" segment. Individual segments, such as Software and Medicine, depend on external factors: in the first case, the share of illegal content is high, in the second - dependence on government regulation of the industry.

According to the forecasts of J'son & Partners Consulting experts, in 2015 there will be a slowdown in the development of the retail presence of participants in the online trading market due to the unstable economic situation. A decrease in the share of cross-border trade is also expected due to the weakening of the ruble on the world stage. According to many participants in the Internet trading market, in 2015 the trend towards the growth of online hypermarkets providing a mixed range of goods will continue. The further development of mobile applications by players in the online trading market is predicted. According to various estimates, stagnation and a decrease in the number of players in the Coupon Services segment are expected. In the commodity structure of the "Books and Multimedia" segment, a further growth of non-physical goods is expected.

InSales Data

The total turnover of Russian online stores in 2014 showed an increase of 31% and amounted to 612 billion rubles against 470 billion rubles in 2013. However, the dynamics of market growth has slowed down relative to past years. The inflation jump at the end of 2014 significantly affected this indicator, compensating for a decrease in the growth rate of the total number of orders. In the coming years, InSales experts (Inches Rus) expect the continuation of the development of the e-commerce segment by 25-35% per year.

The TOP-5 categories by turnover in 2014 included: electronics and household appliances (147 billion rubles), clothing, shoes (93 billion rubles), computers, laptops, components (68 billion rubles), auto parts (38 billion rubles), mobile phones (32 billion rubles).

The largest increase in the share in the all-Russian market was shown by St. Petersburg, which increased its share from 9% to 11.5%. In addition, growth above the average market was shown by the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts. The share of Moscow turned out to be stable and remained at the level of 40% - the same as last year.

As a general trend in 2014, InSales calls the withdrawal of weak small players from the market, that is, those entrepreneurs for whom the online store was not the main business, who was tied to sanctioned goods and whose platforms were too sensitive to a change in the exchange rate of the national currency.

2013

E-Commerce Market

According to J'son & Partners Consulting, the e-commerce market in 2013 exceeded RUB 2 trillion. At the same time, the share of services amounted to 53% or 1.08 trillion rubles, the share of physical goods - 42% or 872.4 billion rubles, the share of non-physical goods - 5% or 108.6 billion rubles. The fastest growing segment of the e-commerce market is e-commerce, which grew to RUB 537 billion in 2013; this segment has grown by an average of 42.2% per year over the past 5 years.

In Russia, the most popular products are household appliances and electronics. Online buyers prefer courier home delivery and cash payment. The geographical structure of the market is dominated by the Moscow region, which accounts for about 40% of all purchases. The top 5 cities also included St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk. The average check level is 25,575 rubles. per year.

The share of purchases in foreign stores in the total structure of online trading is 10%. The main resources for purchases are English-language online stores, including stores offering goods from Chinese manufacturers.

Online Commerce Market

In December 2014, J'son & Partners Consulting analysts estimated the volume of the online trading market in Russia in 2013 at more than 537 billion rubles, an increase over the past 5 years by an average of 42.2% per year. Experts from J'son & Partners Consulting reviewed 172 companies in 20 online retail segments, with the largest segments being Household Appliances and Electronics (125.5 billion rubles), Hypermarkets (85 billion rubles) and Clothing and Footwear (74.2 billion rubles).

Among the 172 market participants considered, more than half of the largest online stores use the classic model of online trading: the sale of goods is carried out only through the Network. The second distribution channel for the largest online stores in Russia, as a rule, is retail sales. Also among the players considered were online stores using catalog and TV trading.

Most online stores in Russia do not have their own courier services and use the services of various delivery operators with an extensive network of branches in all Federal Districts of the Russian Federation. The most popular delivery service is Russian Post (due to the record number of branches - 42 thousand), and fulfillment is also becoming more and more popular in Russia - outsourcing such logistics processes as picking, sorting, packaging, labeling, shipping goods and order processing.

2012

Expectation of sales growth from Russia's accession to the WTO

In November 2011, it was expected that with Russia's accession to the WTO, the volume of the online sales market in Russia would grow by more than 45% compared to 2011 and amount to about 520 billion rubles. Experts of the Agency for Advanced Information Technologies published their expert forecast for 2012, in which they predicted a real revolution in the world of electronic commerce.

"If today (November 2011) e-commerce in Russia is no more than 1.2% of GDP, then in 2012 this figure will at least be 1.9%," said Vladimir Korovin, head of the Agency. - The main reason for the explosive growth will be the expected entry of Russia into the WTO, which will sharply intensify the presence of the world's leading Internet trading operators on the Russian market.

Reducing customs duties and leveling prices will lead to the fact that Russians are more willing to start buying goods abroad in such well-known electronic hypermarkets as eBay, Amazon, taobao, Alibaba, which, due to the recognition, exclusivity of goods and ease of payment, are able to win up to 30% of the electronic sales market in Russia in 2-3 years. "

Sales growth within Russia by 25%

The e-commerce market in Russia is growing rapidly. According to preliminary data from Data Insight (Data Insight), the turnover of all Russian Internet retailers in 2012 increased from the year before last 310 billion rubles. by 25-30%.

Russians spent another $1-2 billion on online purchases abroad, estimates the general director of the Internet hypermarket Wikimart Maxim Faldin.

According to PayOnline, if we compare 2009 and 2012, then in just 4 years the market has doubled - from 210 billion rubles. up to 405 billion rubles. However, the segment of e-commerce in the Russian economy has become noticeable only in recent years - earlier it did not reach 1%. But already in 2011, the share of sales via the Internet amounted to 1.5% in the total volume of Russian retail trade, in 2012 it was already 2.2%, and by 2015 experts predict an increase to 4.5%.

According to the Russian Post, the number of parcels, small packages and express shipments from abroad amounted to 21.6 million in 2012, of which about 70% are purchases in online stores. About 80% of mail to Russia comes from China, the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong and Ukraine.

2011

In 2011, goods were purchased in Runet for 244.6 billion rubles, which is 39% more than in 2010. Of these:

• most of all was spent on electronics and household appliances (57.3 billion rubles, + 44%),
• computers, laptops and components (35.2 billion rubles) and
• clothing and footwear (34.4 billion rubles, + 69%).

The study was conducted by InSales with expert support from DataInsight.

Discount Services (Coupons)

Three times, compared to last year, the costs of Russians for the purchase of coupons increased. The boom in discount services began in 2010 and continued in 2011. The main drivers of growth were the regional development of companies, as well as large advertising campaigns conducted by leaders. In addition, the average check has grown significantly, due to the involvement of partners with more expensive services. In fact, services began to be sold at a discount, and not cheap coupons with a discount on the service. All services have greatly increased the number of simultaneously held shares.

The Clothing and Footwear segment also saw big growth in 2011. It began to develop actively in 2010 with the advent of the club format of online trading (in particular with the arrival of the kupivip.ru store), thereby spurring existing sales formats (catalogs and simply online stores).

The leaders of TOP-30 were the companies:

• utkonos.ru,
• ozon.ru и
• komus.ru.

The following sites became newcomers to the rating:

• biglion.ru,
• groupon.ru,
• sapato.ru,
• tanuki.ru,
• lamoda.ru,
• zakazi24.ru.

TOP-30 list was left by sotmarket.ru, 003.ru, concert.ru, fcenter.ru, top-shop.ru, vasko.ru shops.

InSales also analyzed the degree of monopolization of each market segment. For this, the Herfindal index was calculated. Without elaborating, this index shows how much turnover across the segment as a whole is centered around large or distributed among small players. The smaller the indicator, the more evenly distributed the turnover between all players in this segment. According to a study by InSales, the most monopolized segments on the Russian Internet trade market are Office Products, Books, and Food. In general, this indicator coincides with the assessment of the TOP-30, where the leading companies in terms of turnover are represented by representatives of these categories: utkonos.ru ("Food"), ozon.ru ("Books") and komus.ru ("Office Products").

• According to the forecast of the Higher School of Economics, the volume of the Internet commerce market in 2011 was supposed to be about 350 billion rubles.

According to the forecasts of the director of RAEK, "in 2011 the volume of the e-commerce market may increase to 245 billion rubles."

In March 2011, purchases of 18 billion rubles were made via the Internet.

2010

E-Commerce Market Growth by 40%

"In 2010, there was an increase in the volume of the e-commerce market by 40%," said Sergey Plugotarenko, director of the Russian Association of Electronic Communications, noting that this figure in 2010 amounted to 210 billion rubles.

In 2010, about 24% of users were buying online, while in 2009 there were only 17%.

In 2010, the leaders were Russian online stores:

• Utkonos.ru (5.1 billion),
• OZON.ru (3.6 billion),
• Kupivip (2.4 billion).

Customer Behavior - Mediascope Europe Data

A study by Mediascope Europe showed (summer 2010) that the average cost in Europe is 650 euros, and in Russia - 550 euros.

Among the most popular products are books (more than 70% buy them); music and films order about 50%. Other categories of goods that Russians most often bought on the Web also include: consumer electronic equipment - 40%, computers and software - 35%.

Russia leads in the number of users who changed the choice of brand after studying information about the product of interest on the Internet. There were more than 80% of such people, while on average in Europe there are slightly more than 50%.

According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the main factors that still deter potential customers of online stores from shopping online are uncertainty about the seller's reliability and the quality of delivery services. In addition, the most popular form of payment is still cash payment upon delivery of goods.

The study also showed that social media has a significant impact on users' decision to make a particular purchase: members of social networks trust the opinions of its other participants about products and manufacturers much more than advertising.

Users initially go to social networks not for the purpose of purchase, but thanks to competent marketing on such sites, companies can find a target audience and not just promote their products and services, but make direct sales online. The first steps in this area are now being taken on Facebook: some retailers are embedding their stores in Facebook pages so that users can make purchases without leaving the social network. From a business point of view, this is undoubted luck. But are we ready to connect communication with shopping so tightly?

See also

• IT in retail
• Information technology in retail: 390 suppliers of IT products and services (market map)
• IT in Trade and Logistics
• E-commerce
• Internet trading (Armenian market)
• Information Security in E-Commerce
• Retail (Global)
• Retail in Russia

Notes