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.
Due to the current economic slowdown, it is unlikely that market growth will be maintained in 2014 and 2015 at the same rates (around 25%) as in the past years.
With an average growth rate of 47% over the year 2013, the e-commerce market in Eastern Europe is comparatively showing the strongest increase in Europe. The projected online turnover of €23 billion for 2014 indicates that there is a lot of ground to gain in the region; only 34 million of 135 million Internet users are using the …
47% e-commerce growth reflects Eastern Europe’s enormous potential Read More »
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.
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.
Clothing was the third biggest domestic e-commerce segment 2013, with an estimated online sales volume of $2.4 billion, as detailed in EWDN’s study, only behind the electronics and household appliances categories.