What the Russians bought in preparation for March 8: spending in Russian and foreign online stores

The international payment system WebMoney Transfer together with the PayMaster payment acceptance service analyzed how the demand for goods and services in online stores changed during the preparation for the International Women's Day and directly on holidays. The main trend was an increase in spending on purchases, which can be included in the conditional category “Gifts for Women”. In 2016, against the background of a moderate growth in consumer demand in Russian online stores, sales in Chinese stores increased significantly compared to last year.

In February and early March, compared to the same period last year, sales in Chinese online stores through the WebMoney system increased by an average of 80%. Most of all purchases were made two weeks before March 8, 2016, which is most likely due to the consumer's desire to receive a gift before the holiday, taking into account the time for delivery of goods. It is noteworthy that the average check in dollar terms remained at the level of 2015, about 13 USD.

As for the Russian online stores, the turnover in the “Flowers” ​​category has predictably increased. An increase in sales of 438% in the first week of March 2016 compared with the usual week of February confirms that flowers are still a traditional gift or addition to it. At the same time, in the March holidays of 2016 compared to the same period last year, sales increased by only 23%, and the cost of the bouquet in the face of rising currency rates increased by a third, the average check now amounts to 3,438 rubles.

Similar to New Year's holiday bursts, spending on “Social Networks” has noticeably increased. The volume of payments compared with the first week of March 2015 increased by 57%. Congratulations on social networks using virtual gifts is a convenient way to show attention at a distance.
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It is noteworthy that in the category “Online Games” at the beginning of March, as compared with the usual week in February and even last year’s holidays, the turnover decreased by a quarter, and the average check - by 8%. This is especially noticeable on the background of the statistics of the January holidays of 2016, then the online games were spent almost five times more than in the usual week in December or November 2015.

The category “Discounts and coupons” remains popular, the volume of purchases in March increased by 41% compared to last year, and the average bill, on the contrary, decreased. Buyers are looking for an opportunity to save on the preparation for the holiday and on trips to beauty salons, not wanting to reduce the number of purchases and services, choose more affordable options.

Turnover in the segment “Training Courses and Hobbies” in March 2016 compared with 2015 increased by 45%, while the average check grew by more than a third.

Training workshops as gifts for March 8 are becoming increasingly popular as a source of pleasant impressions. Previously, this niche was occupied by the “Travels” category (a 40% drop in turnover in March 2016 compared with a year earlier) and “Cinema, theaters and entertainment” (a decrease of 8%).