The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries have seen significant development of B2C E-Commerce in recent years. Growing Internet and online shopper penetration spur the growth of online retail off a low base.

One trend which prevails among most states is the importance of clothing, shoes, accessories and related items as a major product category purchased online. Clothing was the top product category in Russia and Kazakhstan, where it was purchased by around half of all online shoppers in 2014, as well as Belarus where approximately a third of online shoppers bought clothing and shoes online. The category was also popular in Ukraine, where it ranked second after electronics.

The importance of clothing items is also visible on the side of supply, with online apparel retailers and marketplaces ranking high among local websites in terms of popularity and often ranking among the top five B2C E-Commerce companies by sales. Online clothing retailers Wildberries and Lamoda emerged as important players in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, while online merchants BonPrix and Le Boutique occupied the leading positions in Ukraine.

While B2C E-Commerce continues to develop in these markets, other product categories are also gaining in significance. More details about online shopping trends and market developments in the CIS countries can be found in our new report “CIS B2C E-Commerce Market 2015”.