Russian e-commerce market in 1H19 expanded by 26% year-on-year to RUB725bn ($11bn), Vedomosti daily reported on September 2, citing a report by Data Insight. The number of purchases online was 191mn in the reporting period, up by a record 44%.

The largest online retailers accounted for most of the growth, with Russia’s leading e-retailer Wildberries almost doubling its orders to 61mn – accounting for almost every third online purchase in Russia. The company's own data put turnover in 1H19 at RUB85bn, up by 79%, and expected to top RUB200bn in 2019.

Wildberries is Russia’s biggest e-commerce site and has been growing in leaps and bounds in recent years. Its founder, Tatyana Bakalchuk, became Russia’s second-ever female billionaire earlier this year after the company's revenue broke through the $1bn mark.

Ozon online retailer of AFK Sistema investment conglomerate and Baring Vostok Capital Partners boosted orders by 85% to 11.5mn and by 80% in monetary terms to RUB32bn.

Data Insight notes that the growth of largest platforms has not yet cannibalised the business of smaller players, as the other 500 largest retailers also increased the orders by 21% on average, with the growth rate accelerating from 14% seen in 2018.

The number of online shoppers that make more than 15 purchases annually increased by 25%, while bundling products from 3-4 different categories also increased. However, the average online ticket size declined by 14% to RUB3,790. 

Russians have embraced e-commerce, which is growing ten-times faster than the real economy and traditional retail. Online sales currently account for about 4.5% of Russia’s total retail turnover, but that has been more or less doubling every year in recent years and is on course to make up 8% of retail turnover by 2021.

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