Ukraine is one of the post-Soviet Block countries. It borders Poland, Russia, Belarus, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. It has access to The Black Sea and Azov Sea. This country is also a member of the UN.
Ukraine has the second-lowest score on the Quality of Life Index in Europe (after Russia). Its GDP in 2019 stood at the level of US$153 billion.
In this text, you will find some information about the state of the ecommerce market in Ukraine. Let’s start with a short overview.
Ukrainian ecommerce overview
About 29% of Ukrainians do shop online or pay bills in this way. Ecommerce is developing among Ukrainians, but it remains a small percentage share. In 2017, around 13.6 million people visited an ecommerce site at least once, while the average consumer spent US$334 on online shopping.
The largest segment in Ukrainian e-commerce is Electronics & Media. It generates 28% of the ecommerce revenue in Ukraine. Then comes Fashion with 26%. It is following by Furniture & Appliances with 20% of ecommerce revenue. The last two, Toys, Hobby & DIY with 15% and Food & Personal Care with 10%.
What are the favorite websites to do the shopping for among Ukrainians? Firs place belongs to Apple. This store generated US$70 m of net sales last year. Then comes makeup.com.ua, an online drugstore. The third one is pharmacy apteka911.com.ua. The last two are comfy.ua – a store with electronics and household appliances and 27.ua, the DIY store.
source: https://ecommercedb.com/en/markets/ua/all
Consumer behavior in Ukraine
For Ukrainian consumers, the price is the main determinant. They are also curious about products from across the western border, which are perceived as better quality and not easily available, especially in the country’s interior. What distinguishes foreign companies from the Ukrainian ones is the quality of after-sales service. In Ukraine, for example, the return of goods is a rarity. It significantly influences the perception of native brands and stores.
Moreover, Ukrainian consumers have relatively little confidence in sellers, which shapes their behavior and habits. This is why they are not very convinced about online shopping. Nevertheless, the younger part of society believes in the power of the internet and drives this machine.
As a market for your business expansion, Ukraine is worth considering. Consumers want new products of Western quality. Nevertheless, the language may be a problem – customers are not willing to buy if the product labels are not written in their language.
Ukrainian payment methods
source: https://www.paymentwall.com/pl/payment-methods/ukraine
The most preferred payment method on the Ukrainian market is by credit cards. Then come e-wallets with almost 40% of the market share. The third-place belongs to mobiles.
In Ukraine, a very popular service in this part of the world is available – Yandex Mobile. It is a Russian app that supports mobile, cash, prepaid, and electronic payments. This solution was created thanks to the cooperation of the Russian Yandex search engine and one of the most popular Russian banks – Sberbank.
There is also a QIWI solution available. It is an e-wallet popular among Commonwealth of Independent States countries. It offers fast and secure payments.
Both Google Pay and Apple Pay are available in Ukraine.
Social media in Ukraine
The Internet is accessible for 63% of the population. About 19 million Ukrainians use social media. If you compare 2019 and 2020, there is an increase in the numbers of both Internet users and social media users. What is quite important information – 97% of social media traffic is generated from mobiles.
source: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-ukraine
The most powerful platform in the case of advertising is Facebook. You can reach around 13 million people this way. A little lower score has Instagram – 13 million of ads reach. The lowest score here has Twitter – ads reach 647 thousand users.
source: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-ukraine
What is quite interesting about this market – about 83% of web traffic is generated here from Android devices, and its popularity is still increasing. Apple devices cover only about 15% of this market. And here, a decreasing trend appears.
Logistics in Ukraine
Ukraine is an important link between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Several international transport corridors run through its territory. In total, they account for over 5,000 km. When it comes to railways, there are almost 22,000 railway lines and as many as 62 airports. As Ukraine has access to two seas, it has 13 seaports.
Unfortunately, despite the fairly important international transport position, the quality of Ukrainian roads leaves much to be desired. It is loaded with quite heavy traffic, and investments in this part of the economy are not large. In the period from January to August 2020 – Ukraine transported about 119 million tons by road and 3.3 million tons by water.
The most important airports that play a role in the international arena are Kyiv Boryspil Airport, Lviv Airport, Kharkiv Airport, Donetsk Airport, Odessa Airport, Dnipropetrovsk Airport, and Simferopol Airport.
To wrap up
Ukraine may be a good solution if you are thinking about expansion to Eastern Europe. Consumers want more products from abroad, but they won’t buy them unless you provide product descriptions in the Ukrainian language.
We have hope that thanks to this overview, you have gained some valuable insights. If you are interested, you can find an article about other Eastern European countries like Russia or Lithuania.
