AKIT SUMMARIZED RESULTS OF THE RUSSIAN ELECTRONIC TRADE MARKET

AKIT (the Association of Internet Trading Companies) summarized the results of the Russian e-commerce market for the first half of 2020.

For the first time in many years, the growth dynamics of cross-border trade showed a negative trend, and food products entered the Top 3 categories of most ordered products online.

At the end of the first half of the year, the turnover of Russian distance selling amounted to 1.65 trillion rubles, which is 400 billion rubles less than in all of 2019. At the same time, the share of cross-border trade decreased significantly, from 29% to 16%. According to forecasts, year-on-year turnover will grow by 45% and reach 2.9 trillion rubles, of which cross-border trade will be about 21%. For the first time since 2013, the growth of cross-border trade will show a slowdown. The reason for the negative trend was the pandemic and related disruptions in the delivery of parcels and, after the restrictions were lifted, an increase in the delivery time of purchases.

In total, according to the results of first half of the year, more than 122 million parcels were received in Russia from foreign stores, 116 million of which were processed by the Russian Post.

At the end of the first half of the year, the share of e-commerce in the total retail structure amounted to 10.9% (6.1% in 2019), thanks to which Russia approached the leaders of global online commerce - the United States (13.9%) and China (29.9%).

In terms of product categories, in January-June 2020, for the first time, clothing became the sales leader, overtaking the category of “digital and household appliances” at 30.2% and 29.5%, respectively. In the structure of purchases from abroad, digital technology is still in second place, however the volume of purchases has significantly decreased: from 32.2% in 2019 against 22% in the first half of 2020.  Third place in the Top Categories was occupied by food products at 14.1%. In 2019, they accounted for only 8.6% of all orders.

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The leader in terms of the average check is digital technology. On the local market, on average, Russians spend 8,277 rubles on one purchase, for the corresponding goods from abroad they are prepared to spend a little more: 10,505 rubles. Of interest is the significant difference in the check when buying clothes in Russian online stores versus foreign sites: 2,196 and 11,441 rubles, respectively. The undisputed leader in the difference in the average check amount is the category of auto parts and car accessories. If in Russia consumers spend on average 3,694 rubles on such purchases, in trans-country purchases they are prepared to pay four times more, 15,725 rubles.

In the structure of regions, the leaders of online shopping are still Moscow and St. Petersburg - 29.2 and 7.8%, respectively.