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According to the annual PwC survey, changes in the consumer behavior of Russians are becoming more noticeable, which indicates the maturity of the Russian market. However, in order to "stay afloat", retailers and other players need to invest in tools that seem "too far away" and "insignificant" today. At the same time, no one yet knows what exactly "will shoot" after three –five years.

The majority of consumers in Russia and in the world are equally active in visiting stores and shopping online. Despite the fact that investment activity is under intense pressure in the current economic conditions, retailers need to invest in a more efficient multi-channel service model, PwC believes. In the study «Total sales. Ten retailers' investments in an uncertain future" in the e-commerce sector, more than 24,000 consumers from 29 countries were surveyed. The results confirmed that online trading remains one of the few sectors that continued to expand in 2016.

ON/OFF

In the last three years, the most important factors influencing the purchase of goods in online stores have become the convenience of shopping (according to 36% of respondents in Moscow and St. Petersburg and 25% of respondents in other regions of Russia) and the availability of a wide range, not prices. "Changes in consumer behavior in Russia are becoming more noticeable from year to year, and this is a sign of the maturity of the Russian Internet market," said Martine Peiters, partner, head of the practice for providing services to companies in the retail and consumer goods sector of PwC in Russia. "We see that consumers in Moscow place higher demands on the speed of delivery and convenience of shopping, and customers living in other regions pay more attention to the availability of goods and the availability of a wide range."

Competition for a buyer in retail has entered a new round of evolutionary development, Oksana Kopylova, Head of Retail and warehouse real estate Analytics at JLL, is sure. "For quite a long time, omnichannel has not been a competitive advantage, but, as they say, a must have," Ms. Kopylova shared. – To speak to the buyer in his language, to offer the maximum possible, but «for the same price» is the norm. In this regard, the issue of analytics comes to the fore: collecting data on customer preferences and analyzing them based on big data. The depth of e-commerce penetration varies by product and age groups and by country. It is obvious that the first researchers who react most easily and quickly to new products have been shopping online for a long time, but now even the most conservative consumers are starting to turn to this method. Thus, online retail helps to stimulate sales, but to a greater extent there is a redistribution from offline to online. In turn, the total volume of retail turnover is limited by the purchasing power of the population.

In the next three years, retailers will continue to do everything to make life easier for the buyer, supported Maxim Lisitsin, Director of Tenant Relations at ITD Properties. "The buyer is now quite "harmful", the market is obviously oversaturated," explained Mr. Lisitsin. – ​The consumer needs to be surprised, to make the purchase pleasant, fast and convenient. There are such tools, especially among Western retailers. The ultimate goal of any seller is to create a variety of options for brand communication with the consumer, getting the consumer used to the brand and, as a result, loyalty growth. In the priority of investments for the Russian retailer, I would single out the following order: multichannel, mobile applications, personnel and 3D technologies.

Now, according to Maxim Lisitsin, retail uses about 52% of the multichannel level. "But only individual entrepreneurs are not afraid to be the first to do something new that is not yet on the market," noticed Kira and Ruben Kanayan, a group of companies "Kanayan Retail & Development Consulting". – Most people think it's easier and safer to take some idea and copy it in their region. We are very often asked: "And this development of yours, where does it already work? Where can I go to see? Oh, well, then we'll do it at home too."

It is high technology that is the basis of business in the near future, including in regional markets.

To be continued.

Author:Ekaterina Reutskaya

Photo: shutterstock.com