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E-commerce

E-commerce market

According to National Statistical Committee of Belarus (Belstat) just 1.14 million internet users shop online, which represents 14% of population and 24% of Internet users. Given that the government is still working on implementing e-commerce statistics tools in the country, a figure of the market's revenue can only be estimated. Still, some websites expect Belarus' e-commerce sales to reach US$1 billion by the end of 2019, a figure that is debated. With the economy dominated by the state and its illiberal trade laws, many Belarusians are increasingly turning to shopping online abroad, especially through Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Some of the top e-commerce sites in Belarus include kufar.by, second.by and shop.by. The popularity of online shopping, and lower prices offered by overseas vendors, is causing losses in sales within the country. To counter this, a new decree limiting tax-free online shopping abroad was signed in 2016. The most popular products purchased online among Belarusians are home appliances (52%), phones and gadgets (52%), computers (43%), clothes and shoes (38%) and tickets for concerts, planes and trains (36%). The least popular category of goods among the Belarusian e-shoppers is medicine and optics (6%), according to a research from Gemius. The most frequently used method of payment is cash on delivery (60%), followed by credit card (13%) and internet banking (8%).