Retail sales are falling

Retail sales are falling in most segments of Russian market. The Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) has estimated the drop in Russian retail trade in January down to 4.4%. According to the newspaper "Kommersant", in January the sales of clothing and furniture were reduced by 15%, mobile phones – by 35%, household appliances - by 50%. Popular Internet search service Yandex.Market recorded decline in page transitions to online stores by 8% as compared to January, 2014, and by 44% for certain categories of products.

The interest in mobile phones in January is 21% less than a year ago as well as tablets and laptops – 44% 42% less respectively. The number of orders of cameras declined by 41%, e-books – by 42%, and game consoles – by 4%. The prices have risen significantly for most categories of electronics and household appliances. Prices for refrigerators have grown by 40-45% in October-February, television sets – by 26-38%, laptops - by 42-54%, tablets - by 15-30%. Given the sharp rise of prices people pay more attention to cheap offers and products, the prices which have grown least of all. The winner is the company which can sustain the price. So, Oriflamme announced the completion of the plant in Noginsk near Moscow. The largest drugstore chains reported of the price freezing for a wide range of medicines at the level of November, 2014.