Russia is poised to become one of the world’s leaders in B2C e-commerce sales by 2018, according to a report by Hamburg-based business intelligence organization yStats.com.
The business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce sales in Russia are expected to total 30 billion euros by 2018, says the report.
Russia is forecast to overcome South Korea to become the ninth largest B2C e-commerce market worldwide in terms of sales in 2014. It ranks first among the Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) countries in spending per shopper and Internet penetration.
According to fibre2fashion.com, in 2013, Russia’s B2C e-commerce market was the fourth largest in Europe.
“The practice of shopping through a mobile device is increasing rapidly, as mobile Internet penetration increased in 2013. Cross-border shopping is also a trend, as around 10 percent of online shoppers buy directly from merchants in Europe and the rest of the world,” says the website.
The fashion segment is considered to lead by share of online shoppers in 2013. “The top five online shops, in terms of revenues last year in Russia were, fashion retailers Wildberries, mass merchant Ozon, and coupons dealer, and retailer Biglion. Of the foreign players, the leading in terms of unique visitors from Russia were Aliexpress.com, eBay.com, and Amazon.com,” said the report.
The industry’s future will also depend on the government which is supposed to weigh in on the threshold of VAT-free purchases. According to the latest news updates, this figure may drop from 1,000 euros to around 400 euros.
Find out more: http://russia-insider.com/de/politics_business_society/2014/11/05/04-27-14pm/russias_e-commerce_market_total_30_billion_euros
