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.
comScore has identified Russia as the most engaged social networking country in the world as of April 2014, with 14.5 hours spent on the sites in one month.
Russia has one of the most Internet-engaged audiences in Europe, second only to Turkey in early 2014. Between April 2013 and April 2014 Russia saw the strongest growth (47%) of time spent per visitor across Europe – an additional 12 hours online in one year. Italy witnessed a 45% of growth.
As of summer 2013, just 11% of Russian Internet users lived in Moscow, 4% in St. Petersburg and 9% in cities with more than 1 million inhabitants, while 20% lived in rural areas. Almost three quarters of all Russian Internet users live in the European part of Russia.
Russian online shoppers tended to buy all categories of electronic devices – from home electronics, to mobile devices, to computers and notebooks – and household appliances more often online than offline in 2013.
According to Russian consumers, foreign online stores hold significant price and assortment advantages in the clothing and electronics segments over domestic Russian e-commerce platforms. However, Russian stores can be competitive across specific segments in terms of price.