The document analyzes the emerging Russian market for mobile commerce (m-commerce) in 2012. It provides an overview of the m-commerce market situation in Russia, including key findings from a survey of 4,842 Russian respondents. The survey examines smartphone and tablet ownership and usage, most popular products purchased via mobile devices, payment methods used, and consumer preferences and behaviors related to m-commerce. It also compares the developing Russian m-commerce market to more established markets in the US and Europe.
3. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 3
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ANNOTATION .................................................................................................................................................................... 2
SOME OF THE COMPANIES, CONSIDERED IN THE RESEARCH ................................................................................. 4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................................... 5
Purpose and objectives of the research ......................................................................................................................... 5
Information collection method......................................................................................................................................... 5
Polling conditions............................................................................................................................................................ 6
Sample Characteristic .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Sample size and structure ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Socio-demographic portrait of respondents ............................................................................................................... 7
OPINIONS OF EXPERTS AND PLAYERS REGARDING M-COMMERCE IN RUSSIA .................................................. 12
SHORT ANALYSIS OF M-COMMERCE MARKET SITUATION IN USA AND EUROPE................................................ 14
USA .............................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Europe.......................................................................................................................................................................... 19
M-COMMERCE MARKET IN RUSSIA DEVELOPMENT PREREQUISITES ................................................................... 23
Use of mobile devices in Russia................................................................................................................................... 23
Mobile Internet use in Russia ....................................................................................................................................... 28
Mobile Internet penetration in Russia ...................................................................................................................... 28
Mobile Internet audience in Russia.......................................................................................................................... 29
RUSSIAN M-COMMERCE MARKET SITUATION ........................................................................................................... 31
Most demanded functions of mobile devices................................................................................................................ 32
Shares of Russians, who made purchases via mobile devices .................................................................................... 36
Socio-demographic portrait of Russians, who made purchases via mobile devices..................................................... 38
Smartphones ........................................................................................................................................................... 39
Tablets..................................................................................................................................................................... 41
Rating of goods and services bought through mobile devices...................................................................................... 44
Russia 100 thsd. +................................................................................................................................................... 46
Moscow и Moscow oblast........................................................................................................................................ 48
St.- Petersburg......................................................................................................................................................... 50
Million-strong cities (except Moscow and St.- Petersburg) ...................................................................................... 52
Cities with the population from 500 thsd. to 1 mln persons...................................................................................... 54
Cities with the population from 100 thsd. to 500 thsd. persons................................................................................ 56
Maximal sum of purchase made via mobile devices..................................................................................................... 58
Smartphones ........................................................................................................................................................... 58
Tablets..................................................................................................................................................................... 60
Frequency of buying of goods and services via mobile devices ................................................................................... 61
Smartphones ........................................................................................................................................................... 61
Tablets..................................................................................................................................................................... 63
Rating of the most popular mobile sites and mobile applications of e-shops................................................................ 65
Russia 100 thsd. +................................................................................................................................................... 66
Moscow and Moscow oblast.................................................................................................................................... 68
St.- Petersburg......................................................................................................................................................... 70
Million-strong cities (except Moscow and St.- Petersburg) ...................................................................................... 72
Cities with the population from 500 thsd. to 1 mln persons...................................................................................... 74
Cities with the population from 100 thsd. to 500 thsd. persons................................................................................ 76
Methods of payment for purchases made via mobile devices ...................................................................................... 78
Reasons for making purchases via mobile devices..................................................................................................... 82
4. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 4
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
SOME OF THE COMPANIES, CONSIDERED IN THE RESEARCH
5. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 5
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Purpose and objectives of the research
The research “Russian market of m-commerce 2012” is dedicated to the analysis and
development prospects of a comparatively new and promising market of m-commerce in
Russia.
Major objectives of the research:
Assessment of the level of penetration of mobile devices in Russia, including
smartphones and tablets.
Analysis of the use of mobile Internet in Russia: quantitative estimation of “mobile”
audience and mobile Internet penetration level.
Identification of the most demanded functions of mobile devices.
Estimation of the number of Russians, making “mobile” purchases broken down by
their living geography.
Analysis of the socio-demographic portrait of “mobile” buyers.
Determination of the frequency and maximal sum of “mobile” purchases, made via
smartphones and tablets.
Analysis of main reasons of purchases, made via mobile devices.
Identification of the most popular ways of payment for various goods and services,
bought via smartphones and tablets.
Identification of the most demanded goods and services, bought via mobile devices..
Assessment of the most popular mobile sites and mobile applications of e-shops
based of the share of their customers.
Estimation of the Russian m-commerce market volume, comparison of the Russian
m-commerce market with markets of USA and the largest Western European
countries.
Information collection method
To collect data and solve the above problems an online poll method with selection of a
target audience from OMI (Online Market Intelligence) Internet panel was chosen.
Feasibility of application of Internet poll method is due to strict conformance to the
procedure and main principles of performance of quantitative statistical surveys:
wide coverage of population, having a possibility to participate in the poll,
ensured by active Internet penetration in Russia. According to data of the
Public Opinion Foundation, in spring of 2012 the monthly Internet audience
above 18 years of age amounted to 59,5 mln users, i.e. 51% of the population
at large of the country. Note that the Internet audience is economically active
population whose expenses on goods and services are higher than the
national average. Precisely because of these two reasons (growing
internetization of Russian cities and high economic activity of Internet users)
the audience of the performed online poll can be considered representative
for the research of consumer behavior of buyers of goods and services via
Internet.
creation of a friendly atmosphere when answering questions of an electronic
questionnaire – easy-to-use Internet portal interface, absence of influence on
the part of interviewer;
qualitative recruiting of poll participants. Over 100 recruiting sources – online
recruiting, phone recruiting, via PR campaigns on mass portals with wide
audience: mail services, search engines, weather forecast sites, online
personals, sites of specialized communities of interest, deep profiling
(maximum info on panelists is collected); quality of obtained information.
6. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 6
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
The disadvantages of the method are insufficient (lower, than in a general totality of
population of the Russian cities) share of older aged people, however as the time goes by
and internetization grows this disadvantage will be overcome.
In order to improve the survey results quality a set of measures was taken to control the
quality of filling of questionnaires, including:
software verification of multiple accounts (same addresses, phone numbers,
email addresses, passwords, etc.);
unique references to the questionnaire (possibility to fill it only once);
measurement of an average filling time of the questionnaire.
Final data processing: SPSS program.
Polling conditions
Dates of polling – August 22 – August 31, 2012.
Sample size – 4 842 respondents.
Table 1. Breakdown of respondents by their place of residence
Number of
respondents
Cities with the population from 100 to 500 thsd. persons 1412
Moscow 890
Cities with the population from 500 thsd. to 1 mln persons 860
St.- Petersburg 468
Moscow oblast 381
Samara 127
Nizhny Novgorod 97
Ekaterinburg 95
Novosibirsk 95
Rostov-on-Don 89
Ufa 80
Volgograd 72
Kazan 66
Chelyabinsk 60
Omsk 50
Total 4842
Source: RBC.research
Sample Characteristic
Sample size and structure
Sample size is 4842 respondents – men and women, residents of Moscow, St.-
Petersburg and Moscow oblast, as well as of other cities of Russia.
8. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 8
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
OPINIONS OF EXPERTS AND PLAYERS REGARDING M-
COMMERCE IN RUSSIA
Mobile media is a fast growing market having a bright future…
Roman Romanov, PhD in Sociology, consultant of business accelerator
«Now» and Internet-agency «E-marka», со-organizer, member of the
Program Committee for the Mobile Media Conference
Due to a wider use of mobile Internet, growth of smartphone park and population
mobility as a whole m-commerce deserves close attention…
General Director of PayOnline processing centre, Marat Abasaliev.
9. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 9
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
M-COMMERCE MARKET IN RUSSIA DEVELOPMENT
PREREQUISITES
Russian m-commerce market is in the embryo state, however, this market
prospects are practically assured, because there are all preconditions for this
market development.
Sales of smartphones and tablet computers grow, as well as the mobile Internet
user audience. Thus, reports of the largest retail networks, selling mobile phones,
speak of rapid increase of sales of smartphones and tablet computers. According
to Euroset data over a period from the first half of 2011 to the first half of 2012 sales
of smartphones grew by 67% and made up 27% of the number of mobile phones
sold by the company in the first half of 2012. Sales of tablets via the company’s
retail network increased eightfold and made up 800 thsd. pieces.
Nevertheless, so far the penetration level of smartphones and tablets lags far
behind the US and Western European countries. Thus, according to estimations of
RBC.research, at present only 2% and 18% of residents of the largest Russian
cities have smartphones and tablets respectively. However in the years to come
increase of sales of these devices will lead to growth of these figures.
Mobile Internet use grows along with penetration of smartphones and tablets.
According to TNS data, mobile sites visiting audience in June 2012 made up 14,6
mln of residents of large Russian cities (100 thsd. +) above 12 years of age, what is
up by 18,9% compared to the similar period of 2011.
By the way, onrush of e-commerce also affected m-commerce growth rates.
Successful experience of distant purchases, appearance of large (and familiar to
Russians) players at the e-commerce market increased Russians’ confidence in e-
shops, what in its turn favoured goods and services sales growth, including sales
via mobile devices.
Use of mobile devices in Russia
…
Fig. 2. Number of active SIM cards in Russia in 2006 – 2011, pcs.
172,9
187,8
207,9
219,2
227,6 232,5
151,9
13,8%
8,7%
10,7%
5,4%
3,9%
2,2%
0
50
100
150
200
250
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012E
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
Number of active SIM cards, mln pcs.
Growth rate, % to the previous period
Source: AC&M, (2012) estimation and calculations of RBC.research
10. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 10
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
Table 3. Use of mobile phones in Russia, Moscow, St.- Petersburg and regions of
the country, Q1 2011 – Q2 2012, data as of the end of the corresponding period
Indicator
2011 2012
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
Russia
Number of mobile phone users in
the RF*, mln pers.
220,7 222,7 225,2 227,6
Mobile phone penetration level in
the RF, %
152,0% 153,4% 155,1% 156,8%
Moscow
Number of mobile device users in
Moscow*, mln pers.
34,6 35,4 35,5 36,0
Mobile phone penetration level in
Moscow, %
203,5% 208,5% 209,1% 212,1%
St.- Petersburg
Number of mobile device users in
St.- Petersburg*, mln pers.
13,0 13,2 13,5 13,7
Mobile phone penetration level in
St.- Petersburg, %
205,0% 207,5% 213,1% 215,6%
Other cities of Russia
Number of mobile device users in
regions of Russia*, mln pers.
173,2 174,1 176,2 177,9
Mobile phone penetration level in
regions of Russia, %
142,1% 142,9% 144,6% 146,0%
Source: AC&M, * AC&M identifies the number of active SIM cards with the number of mobile phone users
Fig. 3. TOP-10 countries in terms of used mobile phones in 2009, mln pcs.
859,0
752,0
279,0
238,0
220,0
202,9
154,0
111,0
105,0
121,0
China
India
USA
Russia
Indonesia
Brazil
Vietnam
Japan
Pakistan
Germany
Source: US CIA
11. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 11
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
Fig. 4. Number of mobile phones, used by Russians, % of Russians, residing in
Russian cities with the population exceeding 100 thsd. persons
3,0%
71,0%
26,0%
Source: Romir
Use of mobile phones and tablet computers, gaining their popularity in Russia, is one of
essential factors of m-commerce development. Thus, it’s evident, that smartphone and
tablet computer owners constitute the basis of mobile Internet audience and they also
make up almost 100% of Russians who made purchases in Internet via mobile devices.
However, recent studies speak of a rather low penetration level of these devices in the
country. Thus, according to eMarketer data, at the beginning of 2012 only 28% and 10%
of Internet users aged from 16 tо 54 years had smartphones and tablets respectively. As
a comparison, in BRIC countries these figures are much higher. Thus, in Brazil, that
demonstrated rather modest results compared to China and India, smartphone and tablet
computer penetration level made up 35% and 12% respectively.
Fig. 5. Penetration of smartphones and tablets in BRIC countries, at the beginning
of 2012, % of Internet user audience aged 16-54
59%
37%
35%
28%
33%
19%
12%
10%
China
India
Brazil
Russia
Source: eMarketer
12. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 12
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
Boom of sales of smartphones and tablet computers, observed in 2011-2012, will
continue in 2013, …
Fig. 6. Dynamics of smartphone sales volume in Euroset retail networks for the 1
st
half of 2009 – 1
st
half of 2012, mln pcs. (% of phone sales)
1st half 2009 1st half 2010 I1st half 2011 1st half 2012
Smartphone sales, mln pcs.
Share of smartphones in sales of mobile phones, %
Source: Euroset reporting
Fig. 7. Smartphone penetration, % of mobile phones registered in MTS network
1st half 2010 2nd half 2010 1st half 2011 2nd half 2011 1st half 2012 2nd half 2012
Smartphone penetration, % of phones, registered in MTS network
Source: MTS reporting
14. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 14
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
Fig. 9. Dynamics of mobile Internet audience in Russia 100 thsd.+ , June 2008 –
June 2012, mln pers. above 12 years of age (%)
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013F
Number of Russians above 12 years of age, using mobile Internet, mln pers.
Penetration level, % of Russians above 12 years of age, living in 100 thsd.+ cities
Source: TNS, RBC.research forecast
Mobile Internet audience in Russia
Smartphone and tablet owners form the basis of mobile Internet user audience. Thus,
according to TNS data in June 2012 about 46% mobile devices, used to access the
Internet were ordinary mobile phones, 45% - smartphones and 8% - tablet computers.
Fig. 10. Mobile devices, used to access Internet, June 2012, % of mobile Internet
users above 12 years of age
34%
46%
11%
14%
8%
41%
46%
50%
45%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
St.-Petersburg
Moscow
Russia 100 thsd. +
Ordinary mobile phone Smartphone/ communicator Tablet Cannot say
Source: TNS
Speaking of the socio-demographic portrait of mobile Internet users, it’s worth to note that
most of them are men (a little over 54%), and Russians aged 18-34 (about 67%).
15. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 15
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
Fig. 11. Mobile Internet user portrait, % of Russians of corresponding age and sex,
living in 100 thsd. + cities
Sex
62%
38%
21%
3%
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
Age
28%
19%
Men
Women
7.9 mln pers.
6,7 mln pers.
4.83 mln pers.
4.78 mln pers.
2.12 mln pers.
0.91 mln pers.
Source: TNS
16. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 16
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
RUSSIAN M-COMMERCE MARKET SITUATION
Russian m-commerce market lags far behind Western Europe and USA what is due
to a relatively low level of smartphone and tablet penetration and a relatively low
use of mobile Internet.
…
Most demanded functions of mobile devices
At present information search through mobile Internet is one of the Top 4 most demanded
functions of mobile devices. Thus, according to results of the opinion poll performed by
RBC.research, 73% of owners use their smartphones to search for information. At that the
most used capabilities are calls, sending of SMS messages (they are used by 93,6% of
smartphone owners) and use of a calculator (79,6%).
Among tablet owners search for information in Internet occupies the leading position with
the share of users equal to 87% and is ahead of such functions as e-mail viewing and
sending of messages (they are used by 82% of Internet tablets users), and interaction in
social networks (77%).
20. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 20
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
Socio-demographic portrait of Russians, who made purchases via
mobile devices
Smartphones
Fig. 16. Portrait of Russians, who made purchases via smartphones, % of Russians
living in large cities (100 thsd.+)
24. Russian market of m-commerce 2012 24
RBC.research Department of consulting (consulting.rbc.ru)
Moscow и Moscow oblast
St.- Petersburg
Million-strong cities (except Moscow and St.- Petersburg)
Cities with the population from 500 thsd. to 1 mln persons
Cities with the population from 100 thsd. to 500 thsd. persons
Rating of the most popular mobile sites and mobile applications of e-
shops
Onrush of m-commerce in USA and Europe proved the prospects of this distant
commerce segment. In anticipation of a similar boom in Russia many players of the
domestic e-commerce market have not limited by their presence in the classic online
space and created their own mobile sites and applications, allowing them to develop in
the m-commerce segment as well. Currently the following e-commerce market players are
most active in this sphere: ...