The Ustor team, as always, has compiled for you a summary of the most interesting events of Ukrainian and world retail over the past months.

Ukrainian retailers had more than $ 300,000 revenues selling in messengers

Global sales growth through online sites does not slow down. According to experts from Country Manager Admitad Ukraine, an increase in the number of sales through instant messengers, blogs, communities and popular accounts on social networks is the result of an increased credit of audience trust in bloggers in comparison with traditional advertising.

Sales of goods through new traffic channels increase annually and Ukraine did not pass these trends. In the first half of 2019, the turnover of such sales increased by 39% compared to the previous one. It was the messengers that became the sales leader — in just a year, the turnover indicators of such sales increased by 118%.

If your business has not yet mastered Viber, Telegram, WhatsApp — it's time to start. Popular instant messengers can become a new effective source of income.

For the consumer, delivery is no less significant than the product itself — BigCommerce research

Perhaps it seemed to you that for customers this is not such an important detail, but do not underestimate the importance of comfortable delivery. According to published data from the latest global study, over the past 12 months, 77% of consumers refused to buy online stores just because they were not happy with the delivery options available there.

The data provided by BigCommerce suggests that online stores should pay more attention to this factor for the successful promotion of their products. Indeed, if three out of four buyers are ready to refuse to buy only because they are not satisfied with the delivery conditions, this can greatly affect the total number of sales completed and the success of the business.

According to BigCommerce, 66% of buyers would prefer to place an order on a site with free delivery, and 87% are ready to order several products at once for the sake of the prospect of saving on it.

The brand is losing its relevance to the consumer — Nielsen research

According to the latest data, there are fewer and fewer consumers in the world who prefer specific brands. Customer loyalty to new names in the market is growing — people prefer new items to classic.

Among the main results of the Nielsen study, the following trends can be distinguished:

• 42% of the respondents said that they like to buy products of new brands;
• 46% of buyers say that they are ready to try new brands;
• 49% said they prefer proven products, but are sometimes open to new products;
• 39% of buyers call the price-quality ratio the only fundamental choice factor when shopping;
• quality (34%), price (32%) and ease of use (31%) prevail over brand awareness and popularity (28%) in the factors that influence the purchases of modern customers.

All these indicators indicate that consumers are willing to try new brands and are ready to purchase products from unfamiliar brands. Among the segment of Ukrainian consumers, the “price-quality” ratio remains a decisive factor influencing the purchase decision, as well as when choosing between well-known brands and new products. At the same time, 27% of Ukrainian consumers are ready to actively acquire and try new products.

Ukrainians prefer to shop at one online store — RTB House research

According to the results of a study conducted by RTB House in August 2019, Ukraine took 3rd place in the online advertising market in Europe. Today, the Ukrainian Internet advertising market is one of the most dynamically developing and promising in both Central and Eastern Europe.

During this study, one characteristic feature of the Ukrainian market was noted: in contrast to the global market trends, in which consumers prefer fashion advertising, in the segment of Ukrainian buyers multicategorial advertising predominates. Ukrainian consumers like to make all purchases on one platform. Therefore, multi-format stores are more popular than niche stores.

Among the results of the study, it was also found that today the conversion of advertising in mobile applications significantly prevails over the conversion of advertising on sites. It is difficult to imagine the modern world without smartphones, and according to the analysis of the DataReportal portal, about 32 million Ukrainians are active users of mobile Internet. Mobile applications give a much greater conversion (up to 300%) both in sales and in ad impressions than adapted sites and online sites.

Ukrainians occupy 21st place in the world in terms of the use of smartphones. That is why today Ukrainian retailers should pay special attention to the prospects of retargeting campaigns in mobile applications.

Trends in online stores by 2020

Experts from the popular Shopify resource compiled and adapted for Ukraine a list of products for which demand is growing steadily. The demand calculation was carried out using the data provided by Prom.ua for July 2019.

Categories of products that will be especially popular in 2020:

• sportswear (sweatshirts, leggings, T-shirts, sports bras, sneakers);
• kitchen accessories (original racks, coasters for dishes, creative little things);
• pet products (toys, care products, sunbeds, feed);
• shoes with enhanced protection (safety shoes);
• smart watches and fitness bracelets;
• bijouterie and jewelry in a minimalist style;
• dragging underwear (shorts, body, T-shirts, jumpsuits);
• accessories for a bathroom (sets for a bathroom, holders, coasters);
• posture correctors and corsets for the back.

Hand-made and second-hand become very popular

In recent years, in the world (and in Ukraine in particular), there has been a growing demand for handmade goods and secondary goods. According to the statistics of the Crafta.ua marketplace, only in the first half of 2019, buyers left orders worth more than UAH 14 million, which is a third higher than last year's figures.

Among the buyers, everyday things, home goods, hand jewelry and accessories, jewelry, designer and designer trifles are most in demand. Among the goods enjoying stable popularity, there were many clothes and shoes. We can say that every year Ukrainians are more and more involved in rational consumption.

Bananas can significantly rise in price, or even completely disappear from many counters in a few years.

Most bananas on the global market grow in South America. But, unfortunately, these plantations are now under threat. In August 2019, Colombian authorities reported that Fusarium mushrooms, deadly for banana trees, had come into the country. Fusarium mushrooms destroyed banana plantations in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Half a century ago, the market was dominated by the Gros Michel banana variety, which disappeared from the market after Fusarium caused the “Panamanian disease” and destroyed the plantations. Now this same fungus is a threat to plantations in South America.