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Russia hits cross-border online shoppers with fresh duties
RUSSIA plans to apply duties on purchases worth more than EUR150 (US$210) from foreign online stores instead of the present EUR1,000 level which stands to slow fast-growing international e-tailing.
This may benefit Russian e-commerce platforms, such as Ozon and Yandex, the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch analysts said. Russian purchases from Chinese e-tailers have grown significantly, offering cheaper prices and faster delivery.
The new level is still higher than the average transaction made by Russian shoppers in foreign online stores, estimated at no more than EUR100 by the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT).
The volume of Russia's purchases in foreign online stores may reach up to RUB120 billion (US$3.67 billion) this year, a 100 per cent increase over 2012, according to AKIT, Reuters reports.
The proposal would bring regulation in line with European standards. Russia has the world's highest threshold, and the rule is applied to individual shoppers only.
"Although we do not expect a material decline in the number of cross-border orders as customers may split their orders, the proposed threshold may lead to a slowdown in growth rates of the number of foreign transactions," said Bank of America-Merrill Lynch analysts.
Logistics has been a major hurdle for expansion in Russia by foreign e-commerce firms such as Amazon and eBay.
The Russian e-commerce market is dominated by local players, including Ozon and KupiVIP, which have invested in their own logistics chain to reach out to customers in far-flung regions of the world's largest country by territory.
This may benefit Russian e-commerce platforms, such as Ozon and Yandex, the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch analysts said. Russian purchases from Chinese e-tailers have grown significantly, offering cheaper prices and faster delivery.
The new level is still higher than the average transaction made by Russian shoppers in foreign online stores, estimated at no more than EUR100 by the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT).
The volume of Russia's purchases in foreign online stores may reach up to RUB120 billion (US$3.67 billion) this year, a 100 per cent increase over 2012, according to AKIT, Reuters reports.
The proposal would bring regulation in line with European standards. Russia has the world's highest threshold, and the rule is applied to individual shoppers only.
"Although we do not expect a material decline in the number of cross-border orders as customers may split their orders, the proposed threshold may lead to a slowdown in growth rates of the number of foreign transactions," said Bank of America-Merrill Lynch analysts.
Logistics has been a major hurdle for expansion in Russia by foreign e-commerce firms such as Amazon and eBay.
The Russian e-commerce market is dominated by local players, including Ozon and KupiVIP, which have invested in their own logistics chain to reach out to customers in far-flung regions of the world's largest country by territory.
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