Ecommerce In Russia Is Another Emerging Market?

While ecommerce continues to take a larger share of overall retail sales in the United States and Western Europe, the biggest growth rates are occurring in emerging markets

Like China and India, Russia suffers from limited payment options because most consumers do not have credit cards. Logistics are primitive in a country that spans nine time zones, many of them sparsely populated. Cash on delivery is the most prevalent payment system. Russia has the added burden of never being a consumer-goods-focused society because communism downplayed materialism. Unlike China, Russia never developed a middle class. Choice has always been limited and quality has been shoddy.

Almost everything is more expensive in Russia than in Western Europe and the United States because of inefficiencies and a lack of focus on consumer items. Russian Post, the national postal operator, is notorious for slow service and losing parcels, so companies rely on retail or warehouse distribution center pick-up points.

Ecommerce In Russia Is Another Emerging Market?