BRIC: a notable ecommerce market – report

China, the largest of the BRIC countries in terms of market size, has great potential for further growth of online retail, which lies upon the growing internet and online shopper penetration, as well as increasing consumption per shopper, according to the `BRIC B2C E-Commerce Markets’ report issued by the research company yStats.

There is also notable customer mobile affiliation, popularity of price comparison websites and the use of social networks and product reviews. Online marketplaces dominate the ecommerce picture, while the direct-to-consumer segment is significantly smaller.

Russia ranks second of the BRIC countries by the size of the online retail market and leads the four markets in terms of spending per shopper and internet penetration. In 2013, it was the fourth largest B2C ecommerce market in Europe and the largest in Eastern Europe. B2C ecommerce sales are expected to reach nearly EUR 30 billion in 2018. In cross-border shopping, 10% of online shoppers buy directly from merchants in Europe and the rest of the world. The top five online shops in terms of revenues last year in Russia were electronics merchants Ulmart and Citilink, fashion retailer Wildberries, mass merchant Ozon and coupons dealer and retailer Biglion.

Brazil is the 11th largest B2C ecommerce market worldwide, which registers increasing online shopper penetration and spending. Online retail sales in this country, excluding travel, are forecasted to top EUR 20 billion from 2015 to 2018. The share of m-commerce sales on total online retail in Brazil continues to grow, boosted by surging mobile internet penetration.

India, the smallest B2C ecommerce market of the BRIC countries in terms of sales, benefits from the large population and growing internet connectivity. It is mainly due to notable internet penetration which allowed double digit figures for B2C ecommerce sales sector, placing the country fourth worldwide in sales growth.