Immediate prospects for commerce on the Internet
Despite Ukraine’s noticeable lag behind most European countries in the startup industry, we are still in some ways first. For several years in a row, Ukrainian trade on the Internet has shown an annual growth of a third, due to which it occupies a leading position in the Eastern European market.
Moreover, in terms of development rates, our market overtakes any of the European countries. What was the impetus for mass Internet entrepreneurship and what are the business prospects? Consider in more detail.
Online shopping A bit of statistics
In 2015, more than 3.7 million Ukrainians became customers of online stores, which is equal to 17 percent of the total number of users of information networks. The share of purchases made from mobile phones and tablets is at least 40%. The bulk of buyers are young people aged 14 to 35 years. Half of them – with higher education.
Leaders of online commerce in 2015, as well as in this, became the categories of “Household appliances and electronics” and “Fashion”. In the technology category, the first places in the ranking belong to such large online retailers as Rozetka.com.ua, allo.ua and f.ua. lovers of fashion shopping prefer Internet platforms ModnaKasta, LeBoutique, Lamoda.
At present, the share of e-commerce in the retail segment in the country is only 2 percent. In European countries, this percentage is much higher – 15% in the UK, 13% in the USA, 12% in Germany. It only says that Internet entrepreneurs can take advantage of a number of enormous advantages – to be the first in the industry in the Ukrainian market, grow and improve their business, and provide convenient ways to use, such as mobile applications.
From the history of the development of Ukrainian commerce on the Internet
The first online trading platform emerged in the 1990s. But the prerequisites for their development were not enough – a small number of network users, the lack of courier delivery, mediocre streamlined banking systems and so on.
The first stage in the development of full-fledged online commerce can be considered 2000-2005. It was then that the first courier service “New Mail” appeared. For the same period, the development of mobile communications, the decline in prices for computer equipment and communications, and the emergence of the first large platform, Rosettes, fell. Now it is no longer just a household and computer equipment store, but a whole marketplace connecting a lot of other partners to its resource and using foreign investments.
The development of Ukrainian commerce on the Internet. The following years (2005-2008) only strengthened the opportunities of both Internet entrepreneurship and the population. Cheap prices for home Internet, high solvency of the population raised the sphere to the level of market leaders along with the agrarian industry.
The period until 2014 was the dawn of the sphere. Some large online stores achieved a turnover increase of 30 times in one year. An example is the modnaKasta fashion portal. The number of packages to customers during this period could be about 300 thousand per month.
Today, the industry is keeping up pretty well against the background of a general crisis. However, the owners of online stores are in no hurry to invest more in development due to the ambiguity of the economic picture. Many prefer temporary stagnation to possible losses.
Prospects for online storesNear prospects for online stores
If we compare the level of Internet commerce in Ukraine with other countries, our market lags behind the American one by 10 years, from Russian or Turkish – by three years. But the question is only in time.
Despite the difficult economic times, the number of users and customers in the online store has not decreased. Only the average amount of the purchase check on the Internet has decreased. Advanced users are well versed in the capabilities and benefits of Internet platforms. One of these is the comparison of prices for various trading resources in one click.
The purchasing power of the population has declined somewhat, so most fans who shop online prefer to spend more time searching for better products from a leading manufacturer for a lower price.
For entrepreneurs, trading on the Internet is also attractive even in times of crisis. Lack of rental offices, logistics services and other organizational issues facilitates business. Moreover, in 2015, the law “On e-commerce” was finally adopted, regulating and administering many legislative issues. The law significantly simplifies the relationship of businessmen with tax services, and also permits transactions at the international level, attracting investments and conducting business outside the country.
