6 qualities of the Russian online buyer
Digital Research, Subscribe and Esper Group have joined forces to try to figure out how Russian shoppers relate to online shopping. From the results obtained, it is clearly visible who buys clothes and shoes online, what these people like and what not.
Esper Group (Esper Group) - An international company in the fashion industry, specializing in providing a wide range of analytical and consulting services. The main activity of the company is focused on researching the markets of Russia, the CIS and the countries of Eastern Europe.
www.esper-group.com
Digital research - A company that has been conducting Internet audience research since the 2002 year, both on its own initiative and on orders from the media, manufacturing companies and other firms.
www.digitalresearch.ru
Subscribe - A marketing communications provider in RuNet since 1998, the owner of Russia's largest mailing list service and a well-known online advertising platform. The company has a survey panel of 50 000 pre-surveyed respondents.
www.subscribe.ru
Who is buying?
Although the audience of online stores is growing rapidly, half of the respondents still answered that they never buy anything online. A few times a month a very small number of people make virtual purchases - only 2,3%. Other respondents rarely purchase goods on the Internet: a couple of times for the whole time (18,7%), several times a year (16,5%) or several times a season (9,5%). This means that online retailers need to work actively to convince most Russians to buy online.
Women master virtual shopping much faster and more actively than men: 61,6% of the stronger sex admitted that they had never purchased anything online in their life.
Now, most (45%) online shoppers spend on average buying shoes, clothes and accessories from 1 000 to 3 000 rubles, but are willing to pay from 3 000 to 5 000 rubles (30,8%), and some 5 -10 thousand. rubles (20,5%) and even more than 10 thousand rubles (5,7%). Buying potential in this segment of trade is far from exhausted: people can acquire more.
What are they buying?
Most buyers prefer a classic style in clothes (49%) and neutral casual colors (58%). However, black and white things are not very popular - only 15% choose these shades. Only a quarter of online shoppers love clothing and sports-style shoes, and only 17% love vibrant colors.
36% of respondents buy shoes online, but 32% of respondents say they would never order shoes online. With even greater negativity, respondents relate only to remote purchases of business suits and underwear and swimwear.
Where to buy?
The five most famous online stores among Runet users included Quelle.ru (77,4%), Otto.ru (73,1%), Lamoda.ru (72,0%), KupiVip.ru (66,1%), Bonprix.ru (53,3%) . It is interesting that only two of them (Lamoda.ru, KupiVip.ru) are Russian companies, while the rest are European retailers that have entered the Russian market. The same five online stores account for about 70% of online purchases of clothes and shoes by Russian customers.
60% of respondents use already familiar stores to search for products on the Internet, thus forming a circle of loyal customers. 49% look for necessary things through search engines, 20% - on social networks and only 8% use special systems like “Wardrobe” on Yandex.Market or “Clothes” on Goods@mail.ru.
If you compare foreign and Russian online stores, a rather interesting picture emerges. The advantages of Russian online sellers, respondents called low cost and fast delivery speed, as well as an understandable and convenient size range. In foreign stores, the majority (70%) of buyers are attracted by a wide range of products, higher quality than in Russian stores, and lower cost of goods. It turns out that the Russians consider shopping in our online stores more convenient and simpler, but it seems more interesting and profitable for them to buy from foreign retailers.
What information sources are guided by?
How do modern shoppers find out about the latest trends in the fashion world? Of course, from articles on thematic sites on the Internet (65%). The same number of respondents will find out what is now fashionable from television programs. The recommendations of friends (38%), social networks, forums and blogs (35%) seem much less informative to buyers. 33% of respondents are guided by the choice seen in advertising publications and clothing catalogs. And only 23% learn about trends from print magazines. This means that online shopping is much more effective at advertising on fashion and style websites than in glossy magazines.
What do you like?
Among the advantages of shopping online, customers highlight the opportunity to shop around the clock (64%), the ability to get reviews from other customers (54%) and the variety of assortment (53%), the reduction in time to make a purchase (49%), the ability to get more information about the product (46 %), wide geographical coverage (38%), the availability of different forms of payment (33%).
It is interesting that Russians regard online shopping as a good way to save money: more than half believe that buying on the Internet is more profitable than in physical stores. Only 17% of respondents adhere to the opposite opinion.
What don't you like?
But the respondents found many disadvantages of online shopping. For example, the inability to get seller’s advice and live viewing of the product scares 64% of respondents, half of the respondents fear insecure payments via the Internet and the possibility of personal data leakage. Among the major shortcomings are also called the lack of guarantees and warranty service and long delivery times.
Although the Internet has already become an integral part of our lives, only 15% of the respondents did not have difficulties making online purchases. Few (12%) to purchase something on the Internet prevented the incomprehensible interface of the online store. The rest could not buy anything due to the lack of the required size or the inability to choose the size without fitting (which is especially important for shoe shopping). Almost half of the respondents are stopped by the inability to look at the product live, touch it and hold it in their hands: even a close look at the photos can not replace buyers with tactile sensations. One third of the respondents had to return purchased goods to the online store for various reasons.
What are the difficulties?
From the survey results it is clear that the Russians do not like to pay in advance. 37% use cash on delivery, and only 32% of respondents use electronic payment systems. Only 38% of respondents decide to pay for online purchases by credit card: as already mentioned, for many this seems dangerous. Therefore, 57% prefer to pay cash to the courier upon receipt.
In Russian realities, one of the most difficult issues is delivery. Most buyers prefer to receive their chosen items using the store’s courier service (47%), a quarter of respondents trust the international postal and courier services. And 37% are ready to go for their purchase to the point of issue. Only 16% of respondents expect free shipping. Buyers are ready to pay for delivery, but the majority (40%) limits these costs to 200 in rubles. And only 33% are ready to give a larger amount for it.
The result?
The financial performance of online stores is growing rapidly, which means that Russians are increasingly buying shoes and clothes via the Internet. But at the same time, Internet retailers have yet to attract a huge audience. Among the findings of this study, it is significant that the fast fashion model, characteristic of online stores around the world, does not work in RuNet yet: customers are not inclined to make frequent and regular purchases.
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