How eCommerce changed Russia's exports

E-commerce in Russia is growing by 30% per year, reaching 7.2 trillion rubles by 2024. The coronavirus pandemic and the quarantine that followed provided such a dramatic breakthrough in the development of online commerce in general and exports through e-commerce channels in particular.

Business representatives began to contact the REC twice as often for assistance in the transformation of their export business online or the launch of export sales through online channels. "So, for 9 months of this year, we have brought more than 2,400 companies to international electronic trading platforms, while for the whole of 2019 their number amounted to about 1,400 companies," said Veronika Nikishina, CEO of REC JSC. She added that the more global markets an entrepreneur covers, the less he depends on fluctuations in demand in a particular country. Exporting through e-commerce channels allows entrepreneurs, especially the SME segment, not only to stay afloat, but even to increase sales compared to the pre-crisis period.

The explosive growth of e-commerce in 2020 has dramatically changed the market. The average receipt became smaller, and the number of orders, on the contrary, increased sharply, which led to an increase in the burden on logistics.

To simplify B2B communication, the Russian Export Center, as a development institute, in partnership with the Russian Post and Russian Railways, is developing new logistics products using preferential tariffs for transportation.

In 2021, a seamless digital mechanism will be implemented to provide exporters with a full range of online export development services. First of all, services related to the provision of government support, but the services of our partners, including the Russian Post, will also be integrated.

Veronika Nikishina stressed that it is often extremely difficult to enter domestic sites on their own, especially for representatives of SMEs.: "A year ago, we opened a National store of Russian food products on the Chinese domestic marketplace Tmall.com . I would like to note that during the year sales reached more than 200 million rubles. We want to increase the number of such channels and plan to open a similar store in the German market, as well as open a REC account on the Chinese WeChat platform, which has an audience of more than 1 billion active users, and the functionality allows maximum communication with buyers, partners and consumers in the Chinese market."

It should be noted that the regional operator of the implementation of the national project "International Cooperation and Export" is the Export Support Center of the Omsk region, operating on the basis of the My Business Center.

For example, 14 Omsk companies have been exported through e-commerce channels in the first 9 months of this year. Businessmen are engaged in various fields: food and light industry, metalworking, production of plastic products, souvenirs and entertainment products. The whole world can buy Omsk potato chips, natural fruit snacks, peanut paste, eco bags and ergorukzaki, sports nutrition, metal beds and flower beds, board games, car repair kits and even exclusive clothing for animals.

The Omsk Region Export Support Center is located at 21/1 Komarova St., offices 228-229. Contact phone number: +7(3812) 95-77-75.