Ozon experts analyzed how the number of entrepreneurs and the popularity of online shopping among residents of cities with a population of up to 10 thousand people grew in 2023 .
Source: Ozon
In 2023, Ozon's turnover in cities with a population of less than 10 thousand people increased 4.3 times compared to 2022. On average, Ozon's annual turnover across the country grew 2.1 times last year. The number of orders in cities with up to 10 thousand inhabitants increased almost 4 times year-on-year in 2023.
The rapid growth in sales is associated with the active entry of new clients from cities up to 10 thousand onto the site. The base of active buyers from small towns grew 10 times faster than the total number of buyers on the site: in 2023 there were 3.2 times more of them, while the Ozon client base as a whole increased by 31%.
However, the potential for growth in online commerce remains in both large cities and small ones. Thus, in megacities, where online shopping has become a habit for many, orders for Ozon in 2023 increased by 2.4 times.
Interest in shopping on the marketplace has grown sharply due to a multiple increase in the number of order pick-up points in small cities. By the end of 2023, partner-owners of pick-up stations from cities with a population of up to 10 thousand residents have opened almost 9 thousand Ozon points. Now distribution points in small settlements have covered 81 regions of Russia, and there are 3 times more such pickup points compared to 2022. Ozon distribution points play an important role in the life of small communities, providing access to a wide range of goods and creating additional jobs. According to Ozon estimates, opening a pick-up point creates an average of 2.5 jobs.
“One of the main goals of Ozon is to provide equal access to a variety of goods for residents of both megacities and small towns in Russia. To achieve this goal, the company is actively expanding its logistics infrastructure, covering more and more settlements with convenient delivery. Thus, Ozon supports residents of small towns, where the emergence of pick-up points stimulates business development and improves the quality of life for local residents,” said Alexander Geil, director of the Ozon marketplace for logistics.
With the development of logistics and the expansion of the pickup point network, access to marketplaces has become more accessible for sellers from small localities: in 2023 there were 85% more individual entrepreneurs than in 2022. The turnover of such sellers from cities with up to 10 thousand inhabitants in 2023 increased 2.4 times year-on-year, and the range of goods they sold increased by 68%.
Today, in cities with up to 10 thousand residents, more than 13 thousand Ozon distribution points have already been opened; they are owned by more than 7.5 thousand entrepreneurs, for whom the opening of a marketplace distribution point is a unique opportunity to conduct business in the online commerce segment and stay in their favorite city. The opening of new points also stimulates the entry of new sellers into the marketplace, because through a pickup point you can send an order in your hometown without traveling to a sorting center or using the services of a transport company.
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