Experts from Yandex.Market Analytics, one of Russia’s leading IT companies, shared how 2020 went for Russian online stores.
Decline and Growth
With the start of the lockdown, the Russian e-commerce market showed significant growth—after a small 4% drop in February, March figures skyrocketed, reaching approximately 125%. This level held up through the first half of the summer: in May, e-commerce turnover was 130% of January 2020 levels.
As restrictions eased, summer saw a slight downturn in e-commerce sales, but not enough to drop to baseline levels; by September, turnover was at 120%. Then, with new restrictions implemented, e-commerce saw a second wind, with indicators soaring to a record 177% by the end of the year.
What did people buy during lockdown?
The pandemic’s restrictions also changed the contents of shoppers’ baskets.
At the start of the lockdown, Russians paid more attention to nonperishable goods, with pasta and buckwheat leading the pack. The shift to remote work meant companies needed to equip employees with necessary devices—laptops and webcams.
Other top-selling items included home improvement goods. According to browser searches and online orders, many Russians decided to renovate their bathrooms.
Remote work also contributed to an increase in demand and turnover for sporting goods.
By year’s end, the Russian e-commerce sector had grown by about 44% in value compared to 2019, 63% in user count, and nearly doubled in the number of goods ordered. This was heavily influenced by the self-isolation regime, which pushed everyday purchases online. — Ilya Zinchenko, Head of Yandex.Market Analytics
The overall number of online shoppers followed a similar dynamic as sales turnover. Starting the year with 6.7 million Russians buying goods online in January, by December that number reached 10.3 million.
And, of course, Black Friday
Traditionally, “Black Friday” is one of the biggest days for online retailers, and in 2020 it fell on November 27. Discounts continued through the weekend—between November 27–29, Russians spent over a billion rubles on mobile phones alone in online stores. According to Yandex.Market Analytics, users ordered 3.5 million products from Russian online stores over those three days, with many people specifically waiting to make electronics purchases on this date.