Increased competition and innovative services. How will e-commerce develop in 2022
According to the Ministry of Economic Development, the volume of online trade in the world has reached $ 5 trillion, which is 17% of all retail sales in the global market. In Russia, e-commerce accounts for 3.5 trillion rubles. In the total volume of retail, the share of online does not exceed 10%, which indicates the growth potential of this segment.
According to the preliminary assessment of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2021 online trade increased by 40%, while retail trade as a whole added only 10%. As a survey of experts conducted by "EJ" showed, in 2022, online retail is likely to expand not so fast. "Of course, the e-commerce market will continue to grow, but the growth rate will decrease. During the pandemic, the part of the population that has not yet been involved in online commerce, but could potentially become a participant in it, has already done so. Therefore, there will be growth due to attracting new customers, but most likely not so significant," explained Svetlana Revinova, PhD, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Economics of the RUDN.
At the same time, according to her, in the short term, the habits of customers that have developed over the past year will have a major impact on the e-commerce market. The categories of goods that have become leaders in terms of the number of orders will remain so, which means that the focus of consumption will shift towards food, health and self-care.
The epidemic will have an even more serious impact on the market in the long term. "The competition between the players will only intensify. And, if now, Internet companies are focusing on attracting customers, then their next task will be to retain them. This means that companies will have to revise their business processes and improve the quality of services," S. Revinova concluded.
According to the economist, the development trends will be aimed at meeting the needs of customers and helping them make purchase decisions. Online stores are already actively developing new innovative services. For example, sellers suggest using virtual reality to try on clothes. Several international companies have announced the start of testing drones as a means of delivery, etc.
According to the preliminary assessment of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2021 online trade increased by 40%, while retail trade as a whole added only 10%. As a survey of experts conducted by "EJ" showed, in 2022, online retail is likely to expand not so fast. "Of course, the e-commerce market will continue to grow, but the growth rate will decrease. During the pandemic, the part of the population that has not yet been involved in online commerce, but could potentially become a participant in it, has already done so. Therefore, there will be growth due to attracting new customers, but most likely not so significant," explained Svetlana Revinova, PhD, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Economics of the RUDN.
At the same time, according to her, in the short term, the habits of customers that have developed over the past year will have a major impact on the e-commerce market. The categories of goods that have become leaders in terms of the number of orders will remain so, which means that the focus of consumption will shift towards food, health and self-care.
The epidemic will have an even more serious impact on the market in the long term. "The competition between the players will only intensify. And, if now, Internet companies are focusing on attracting customers, then their next task will be to retain them. This means that companies will have to revise their business processes and improve the quality of services," S. Revinova concluded.
According to the economist, the development trends will be aimed at meeting the needs of customers and helping them make purchase decisions. Online stores are already actively developing new innovative services. For example, sellers suggest using virtual reality to try on clothes. Several international companies have announced the start of testing drones as a means of delivery, etc.
Nikolay Novoselov, Director of New Businesses at Cuore, believes that in 2022 it will be interesting to see how global marketplaces capture narrow niches: pharmacies and medical products, automotive products, construction. They can now become growth points, as the largest players already have a customer base accustomed to online shopping. It is also interesting to see where growth will focus geographically. The development of the market may follow the path of increasing penetration in the largest cities or capturing less populated areas. "The first trajectory will require new marketing approaches to connect more conservative consumers. The second trajectory will require simultaneous improvement of the economy of business units (PVZ) and a reduction in the cost of overhead costs included in each product to reduce the final price," N. Novoselov explained. According to AKIT data for 9 months of this year, the top 10 leading regions of local online commerce included Moscow, Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Territory, Sverdlovsk Region, Rostov Region, Nizhny Novgorod Region, Samara Region, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. Moreover, Moscow and the Moscow region account for almost a third of the market – 30.8%.
