Boom in online shopping seen for Russia

U.S. analysts say Russia will experience a boom in online shopping in 2013, with activity reaching $40 billion by 2015. U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley said last year's market volume for e-commerce in Russia stood at $12 billion, which could increase drastically in 2013 thanks to increased Internet access, The Voice of Russia reported Friday. Ilya Rachenkov, an analyst in Moscow, said he agrees with the reasons to expect a significant increase in online shopping in Russia. "First and foremost, this year will see further growth in broadband Internet access in Russia, where the number of Internet users is almost certain to increase," he said. "Another factor is the spread of online banking and electronic payment systems, including Yandex Money and many others." Yandex is Russia's leading Internet search engine. Brick-and-mortar shopping business will gradually transfer to the Internet to reduce expenses, financial experts said. "Online shopping will contribute to enhancing the consumer retail market due to the fact that as compared to traditional trade, online one can introduce a lot more goods to be purchased by customers all across Russia," investment banker and economist Sergei Khestanov said.