Nowadays, major platforms are competing for Russia. The proportion of heavy industry and light industry in Russia is seriously imbalanced, and our country’s textiles, consumer electronics and handicrafts are very popular. According to the Russian Post, in Russia’s overseas online shopping market, nearly 100 million parcels are imported, of which more than 80% are from Chinese goods orders (actual Chinese goods may reach 90%), with only 4% and 2% of the packages respectively. from Europe and the United States.
According to data from the Russian E-commerce Enterprises Association, the total Russian e-commerce market reached 760 billion rubles in 2015, of which cross-border e-commerce accounted for 30% and maintained a growth rate of more than 20%. The number of orders increased by 88%. Even in the context of the overall Sino-Russian trade decline of 27.8% in 2015, China’s cross-border e-commerce exports to Russia still maintained a growth rate of more than 30%.
AliExpress is the most visited e-commerce website in Russia, higher than local Ozon.ru and eBay. Other well-known e-commerce companies include: Ozon comprehensive e-commerce and home appliances, 220-volt and Citilink home decoration and home appliances 3C, Exist and Emex auto parts, Lamoda and Wildberries fashion shoes, clothing and cosmetics, KupiVip fashion discounts, Utkonos food e-commerce, UMKA vertical Wholesale, Avito classified information, etc. are all more influential. Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital have invested in Tobox.com, the first C2C e-commerce platform that utilizes local Internet celebrity traffic resources, but Amazon has not yet entered Russia.
In terms of marketing, Google basically dominates the Western search market, but Russia’s Yandex is unique and is the largest local online portal. The company’s shopping website provides product inquiry and price comparison services, and its revenue mainly comes from click fees and Closing commission. Social networks are also very developed here, with the SNS penetration rate reaching 42%, VK being the most popular, and Odnoklassniki’s market share also ranking ahead of Facebook.
Logistics is the main obstacle to the expansion of cross-border e-commerce in Russia. The prices of several major international express delivery are extremely high (remote service fees), they cannot be charged with electricity or magnets, and customs clearance procedures are high. Even if the freight forwarder is very strong, you can ship the goods yourself. , Deducted returns are also very common. The main reason is that the local area lacks a well-established express delivery logistics system, which does not match the rapid development of e-commerce.
The “last mile” is the most difficult. The land is vast and sparsely populated. In cooperation with local post offices and express delivery, in large and medium-sized cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg, the delivery time for online shopping is generally 10 to 20 days. Consumers However, in the Far East and Novosibirsk areas, there is almost no guarantee of delivery time. Packages often need to be picked up by themselves, cannot be delivered to the door, and even expired before arriving. Many sellers place their hopes on overseas warehouses, but in fact it is difficult to achieve a comprehensive breakthrough. Judging from the experience of the Overseas Chinese Trade City there, market systems and regulatory protections are still lacking, and business risks are extremely high. Recently, models such as Russian dedicated lines and border warehouses are very popular, and the postal service is still the most reliable route.
Russia’s online retail accounts for 2% of the total retail sales, which is still a lot of room compared to 10% in China and the United States. Coupled with the increasingly popular use of smartphones, it is expected to reach 1.3 trillion rubles in 2017 . In addition, there are more than 300 million people speaking Russian around the world. Competition in the Russian cross-border market has become very fierce. Markets in other Russian-speaking countries have received less attention. Products in many regions are still relatively scarce. The Russian-speaking markets in Central Asia and Eastern Europe are also worth considering, including certain Proportion of type B customers.