On November 11, the world celebrates International Shopping Day. This word entered the lexicon of Russians back in the early 1990s. With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis, the format of shopping among the residents of Russia has undergone significant changes. They no longer wander through malls looking at products, but are purposefully looking for discounted products. The turnover of trade through the Internet has grown significantly. NEWS.ru found out how the spread of infection and fear of it influenced consumer behavior.
Russians now make about half of their purchases of food and non-food products as part of various promotions. People specifically track profitable offers in order to save money, Vladimir Ionkin, Deputy Executive Director of the Association of Retail Companies (AKORT), told NEWS.ru. This trend is being monitored both in the online sphere and in the field of stationary trading. The expert stressed that this is directly related to a decrease in the purchasing power of the population.
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Author: Vladimir Ionkin [Deputy Executive Director of the Association of Retail Companies (AKORT)]
Income levels have dropped significantly. People have less money to buy essential goods, and even more so for clothes and shoes. The average check for non-food items has dropped significantly.
In addition, with the onset of the crisis, Russian consumers increasingly began to buy products from chain stores. Whereas before, many were skeptical of such products, added Ionkin. All these tendencies are typical for the products of the budget and medium segments, the expert said. There was no significant drop in demand in premium and luxury. The crisis hit wealthy people less and more Russians with middle and low incomes.
At the same time, the trade turnover of chains selling non-food products decreased. This is due to the growing share of online commerce: according to Ionkin, since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of such products purchased over the Internet has tripled.
For many chains, the coronavirus pandemic has become an incentive to master new trade formats, Vadim Zuikov, President of the National Trade Association, told NEWS.ru. For example, some retailers offer to select a product online (remotely or in the store itself), and then try it on offline. This type of sales helps to significantly save money on renting premises without reducing customer demand, the expert noted.
Difficulties in buying the goods they want have put a lot of stress on many Russians. It usually overtakes people with low self-esteem, psychotherapist Yana Yakupova told NEWS.ru. They a priori do not recognize their value as individuals and need constant reinforcement of their importance with things - status clothes, expensive jewelry, luxury cosmetics. If they cannot make the usual volume of purchases, then such people may develop anxiety and the risk of falling into depression. In such a situation, the help of a psychologist is often required.