As usual, we have prepared for you a brief summary of the most interesting and important things that happened in the world of Ukrainian and world retail last April.

Business magazine published the Top 5 most intensively developing Ukrainian retail sites for 2018

According to the data collected by the Business magazine following the results of 2018, the most intensively developing shopping centers and retail chains in Ukraine are: ATB, Epicenter, Foxtrot, EVA and VOVK. What was assessed first of all: the number of new retail outlets, the overall pace of network expansion, entry into production and quality of transformation, investment activity, as well as entry into new market segments.

1. Epicenter chain of shopping centers was on the first position of the rating. The company opened as many as 5 new shopping centers last year, thanks to which their number reached the mark of 50 objects. The plans for 2019 include opening of its own ceramic tile factory and 10 stores of Intersport sports goods. In the long term, Epicenter plans to open 30 new shopping centers of different formats.
2. The second position is taken by the ATB network. The company was able to expand its presence in Ukraine by opening 80 additional outlets, than increased the turnover by 22%. This is about 103.6 billion UAH (+ VAT).
3. VOVK Studio took 3rd place in the rating, becoming the leader of 2018 by the number of new stores in the fashion-segment (11 new stores in total).
4. EVA, a cosmetics brand that opened 178 new drogerie stores in Ukraine, is right behind it — on the forth place.
5. Foxtrot store chain, which has opened 15 new shops selling electronics and home appliances, completes the TOP-5 of the most actively developing Ukrainian retailers according to Business magazine.

Retail & Development Business Expo 2019 took place in Kiev

The specialized international exhibition dedicated to development and retail [the largest in Ukraine!], was held in late March in Kyiv, in the NSC Olimpiyskiy. The exhibition was attended by more than 2000 visitors, including key players of Ukrainian retail: top managers of companies, owners and organizations that present the best solutions for development, commercial real estate and retail. Among the guests were representatives of such companies as: Auchan Ukraine, H&M, Intertop, Kasta, Mafia, Brocard, Decathlon, Fozzy Group, Metro Cash&Carry Ukraine, Dragon Capital, and many others.

The exhibition included: display areas with stands on two floors at once, three streams of business conferences with 90 speakers, and a total of 16 thematic blocks about the challenges, problems and successes of modern retailing. A separate special session was held at Modern Retail Forum 3 with an exhibition of innovations from Modern Expo. The most delicate topics were discussed in the VIP negotiation area with a luxurious view of the square.

"Velmart" is first in Ukraine who has implemented a payment system for purchases without a cashier. Customers can pay via mobile application!

Velmart hypermarket chain in early April launched the first among Ukrainian retailers system of independent payments via QR code. To pay for your purchase without standing in queues and without the help of a cashier, a visitor must download and install the official mobile application Pick&go on his mobile device, as well as register his bank card with Masterpass (mobile wallet).

With the help of the Pick&go application, customers can: scan barcodes of goods, track the amount of their entire purchase, view its history, edit the list of goods in the "shopping cart", find out in advance about new and promotional offers. The application is, of course, free and available for download in the App Store and Google Play virtual stores. The next retail chains where Retail Group plans to launch the system to pay for purchases independently will be "VK Express" and "Velika Kishenya".

How does a Ukrainian buyer behave at E-commerce?

Business Tsensor has published the results of research of statistics of Ukrainians' purchases through the Internet for 2018, having made the general portrait of the Ukrainian online buyer. For this purpose the services of OLX, Google, EVO and Picodi were analyzed:

+ 7 million people - an approximate number of online buyers;

+ 77.9 billion UAH - total market turnover;

+ plus 25% - the minimum expected growth of E-commerce turnover in 2019;

+ 47% - purchases of clothes and equipment;

+ from 10:00 to 13:00 - peak purchasing activity;

+ 61% of purchases were made by women, 39% by men;

+ the highest percentage of purchases (23%) were made by users aged 35 to 44 years;

+ 59% of purchases were paid in advance.

Marketplaces are creating more and more competition to search engines. Leaders in attendance are steel:

1. Rozetka — 52.8 million users.
2. Allo.ua — 8.1 million visits.
3. Makeup.com.ua — 7.1 million.

When shopping online, users pay attention first of all:

+ the fact of product availability;

+ easy search on the site;

+ convenient and safe payment methods;

+ availability of fast delivery and delivery by courier;

+ download speed and speed of the site.