There is some justification to anticipate continued dynamic growth in cross-border trade. Our optimistic outlook foresees back-to-back annual growth of around 50% over 2014-2016. This is a moderate expectation compared to those of Russian Post Director Dmitry Strashnov who stated in July 2014: “It is widely expected that in the next few years, the volume of …
Russian cross-border market forecast by EWDN (2012-2016) Read More »
The substantial combination of AliExpress and Chinese eBay sellers has driven China to become the dominant force on Russia’s cross-border market by number of deliveries, nearly doubling between 2013 and 2014.
The Russian cross-border market is led by a variety of offer aggregators that provide contrasting services, although occasionally with some overlaps, with the most notable players profiled in EWDN’s study.
On the domestic market, Yandex Money is the leading Russian e-currency in terms of brand awareness and use, with 87% of Russian Internet users familiar with the brand and 22% using the virtual currency at least once every six months, according to early 2014 surveys.
In mid-2014, AliExpress stood as Russia’s most visited e-commerce site and one of the country’s top 10 most visited websites. Over the January 2013-July 2014 period, the retailer’s Russian audience had increased five-fold. AliExpress thus overran eBay in terms of traffic.
As described by EWDN’s study, some Western retailers have seen a slowdown in sales in 2014. However, there are also signs that Western business remains in strong shape.
At first glance, cash-on-delivery (COD) may not look as a relevant payment method for international online stores. Returns and management costs, which can be affordable to e-commerce companies operating domestically, could be out of reach for those operating from abroad, as detailed in our study.
Russian consumers have high expectations in terms of the quality and diversity of the offers provided by retailers. Purchasing abroad enables them to access a larger array of products, often at cheaper costs, and answer the specific needs that are still not sufficiently met by local online or offline stores.
The share of cross-border commerce consumption between the regions and the capitals (Moscow and St. Petersburg) can vary strongly depending on the type of platform in question. Mail forwarders and Western fashion retailers attract a significant proportion of their clients from the capitals, as analyzed in EWDN’s study.
Average order values across foreign retailers differ depending on the type of platform. Mail forwarders Dostami and Shopotam, as well as TaoBao intermediary Kupinatao, aggregate their parcels, meaning the orders of several consumers are integrated into one package, thereby inflating AOV levels.