The Russian e-commerce was worth €14.85 billion in 2016, an increase of 20% when compared to 2015, and is expected to rise rapidly to reach €16.14 billion at the end of 2017.
These findings come from a study conducted by the Association of Online Retail Companies (AKIT), which shows that Russian consumers increasingly prefer foreign retailers.
Non-Russian sellers now account for almost third of the total ecommerce market in Russia, while the cross-border market grew with 37% than the local market did, with 6%.
Odering online at Chinese web stores is popular among Russian consumers. Data shows that 90% of goods purchases at foreign stores comes from China, while in monetary terms the Chinese share is slightly over 50%.
According to AKIT, the growth of cross-border trade in the Russian ecommerce market is mostly due to the lower prices, because foreign companies don’t pay taxes or fees. Currently, small parcels entering Russia are exempt from customs duties, while Russian retailers that import their goods need to pay various tariffs.
The most popular online store in Russia is a Chinese retailer, Aliexpress, which had over 22 million unique visitors per months in 2016, more than Ozon.ru, which welcomed 9 million visitors per month.
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