Ecommerce in Moscow grows by 13.4% during first half year

The ecommerce industry in Moscow was worth 174.8 billion Russian rubles, at the moment worth 2.4 billion euros, during the first half year of 2016. This is an increase of 13.4 percent compared to the same period last year. At the end of this half year, Moscow had more than 20,000 online outlets, an increase of 7 percent.

This is shown by a study that’s conducted by the Department of Information Technology of Moscow. Normally, governments and retail organizations share ecommerce statistics of a whole country, but it’s actually no surprise there is a ecommerce study focused solely on Moscow: nearly 45 percent of all Russia-based online retailers are headquartered in the capital.

Half of online shoppers shopped at foreign stores

As said, the ecommerce industry in Moscow was valued at 2.4 billion euros at the end of this year’s first six months. That corresponds with a 13.4 percent improvement compared to the same period last year. Foreign retailers recorded even bigger growth, which has led to half of online shoppers deciding to shop at foreign stores during the year.

In Moscow, retailers who sell home and garden products, electronics and household appliances have to face the most competition. Health and beauty and clothing and footwear were the most frequently introduced categories, and only 2 percent of online retailers surveyed offers products from more than six different categories. About half of the ecommerce retailers in Moscow give their customers the ability to pick up orders personally.

87,000 ecommerce employees

Ecommerce in Moscow accounted for 8 percent of the total retail market in the Russian capital. There are about 87,000 ecommerce employees in the city, which is virtually the same as it was in 2015. This is mostly as a result of business optimization and the increased popularity of outsourcing.