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E-commerce in Ukraine
2007-05-28
As the popularity of different e-services continues to grow, it seems natural that more and more Internet users decide to do the shopping online. Nearly one third of Internet users from Ukraine use online stores or auction portals as a place for purchasing various goods. Taking into account the attitudes towards e-commerce, this number will, most likely, increase in the nearest future.
To respond to the growing need of knowledge in the e-commerce market, Gemius research on the attitudes and preferences of Internet users towards online shopping in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia and the Ukraine. The study deals with the subject of favourite products bought on the Internet, the frequency of shopping and purchase intent. It reveals also a ranking of e-shops and auction sites.
Cautious fans of online shopping
As a result of the project carried out in Ukraine, Gemius got to know that contrary to the extremely high awareness of online shopping (98% of all respondents have heard about it), only 29% of all Internet users have ever made an online purchase. It is even more surprising when respondents’ declarations of positive attitude towards shopping are considered - 54% of them like or even love this way of spending time.
What is the reason for such cautiousness? A deep insight into the opinions on e-commerce gives the answer to this question. 50% of Internet users (who have heard about shopping on the Internet) consider this medium risky as far as financial transactions are concerned. Six percent of those who have ever done shopping on the Internet admitted that higher security of payments would make them buy more frequently. An improvement in the security of delivery would also increase the frequency of shopping (among 6% of the surveyed e-shoppers).
Saving time and money
In addition to the small number of e-shoppers, most of them are far from purchasing online on everyday basis - only 2% do it more or less once a week. However, 45% of those who have ever done shopping on the Internet admitted that they are going to buy on the Web more frequently. An important incentive would be lower prices as well as a better financial situation of Internet users. Taking into account what Internet users usually buy online, this is no surprise. The most popular products bought in online shops are phones and accessories (49%) and, in the case of auctions, among other things brown and white goods (27%) and computer hardware (26%). As those products are generally rather expensive, it is essential for e-shoppers that they can buy cheaper via Internet. All in all, the on-line shopping is associated with saving money and time. 35% of Internet users admitted that it takes less time than buying in traditional shops. It is also worth adding that for 11% of all respondents saving time and for 16% saving money is one of the most important criteria while buying.
Online shops versus auctions
As far as the behaviour of Ukrainian e-shoppers is concerned, they generally prefer online stores to auctions. The domestic market edged up to 27% for the former, while auctions maintain at the level of 5%. Moreover, these two places are perceived differently by Internet users. The reason for buying in online shops are lower prices than in traditional shops (57% of respondents who have done shopping in online stores), while in the case of auctions, it is the fact that there are goods, which are more difficult to find in some other places (44% of respondents who have done shopping in online auctions). Even though both online shops and auctions are popular places to buy books, CDs, films (47% and 27% respectively) and brown and white products (43% and 27% respectively), auctions are preferred in case of computer hardware (26%) and online shops in case of phones and accessories (49%).
To sum up, as there is clear intention among e-shoppers to buy online, the future of e-commerce seems to be bright. In order to promote the expansion of online shopping, its security should be guaranteed. As the saving of time is also very important for customers, quick delivery of products would be a great advantage. Last, but not least, online shops and auctions should pay more attention to the breadth of assortment and the way the products are presented. Fulfilling all these conditions would speed up the development of the e-commerce market in Ukraine and result in higher satisfaction of the customers.
About the research: The research has been conducted with the use of pop-up questionnaires sent randomly to Internet users between 28th of November 2006 and 9th of February 2007. A sample of 1437 respondents was cleaned accordingly with Gemius standard and afterwards weighted with the use of structural data provided by Gfk Ukraine. The findings are representative in terms of age, gender and frequency of Internet usage for the whole Ukrainian Internet population 15-59 years old.
ГЕМИУС УКРАЇНА is a research company specializing in the Internet, which was established in 2005. It offers a wide range of complex research studies in Ukraine.
Gemius SA - the largest online research agency in Central and Eastern Europe. The company has been dedicated to Internet market research since its founding in 1999. Resulting from its efforts to maximize trustiness, authenticity and accuracy, Gemius is already present in several countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
Download a complete version of the press release in a Word file
Local representative
Dmytrij Lysiuk dmytro.lysiuk@gemius.com.ua
Press contact
Sylwia Szmalec sylwia.szmalec@gemius.pl
Justyna Maciołek justyna.maciolek@gemius.pl