Price.ru: what products do Russians prefer to buy online?

Top 10 products that have become the most popular among Russians online: water (+7% compared to 2021); coffee (+16%); tea (+9%); cakes (+6%); sweets (+11%); chicken (+8%); SUGAR (+91%); fish (+7%); cheeses (+6%); MEAT (+6%). Other products that Russians often ordered online include MILK (+7%), honey (+3%), nuts (+5%), FLOUR (+13%), SALT (+13%), vegetables and fruits ( +12%.

“It is worth noting that the online grocery basket of Russians practically did not change during the year, however, a certain seasonality in purchases, of course, can be traced: for example, in winter, caviar, cocoa and lard get into the list of online purchases, in February in connection with Valentine's Day chocolate and strawberries are becoming popular, in March-April Russians buy potatoes for planting, in May the demand for ice cream rises sharply, and in the summer for fruits and berries,” said Denis Loganov, HEAD of Price.ru’s analytics and marketing department.

Among the leaders in online demand growth last year were the following products: sugar (+91%), coffee (+16%), butter (+20%), flour (+13%), rice (+33%), pasta (+60%) and other cereals (+11%), chips and croutons (+19%), frozen dumplings (+13%) and pizza (+9%), vegetables and fruits (+12%). Russians bought some goods in advance, probably fearing potential supply disruptions due to disruption of supply chains (for example, coffee), some products came to the hand of consumers amid stress (snacks, semi-finished products). The popularity of vegetables and fruits on the Internet may be due to the fact that many Russians have become more actively mastering home canning.

At the same time, as analysts noted, the online grocery basket of Russians is very different from the daily offline basket.

“As a rule, Russians buy on the Internet either large quantities of non-perishable goods, so that delivery does not exceed 10% of the order value, or goods with high added value – coffee, nuts, honey. Russians do not have the habit of buying online and comparing prices for socially important food products, such as buckwheat and pasta. So, rice was bought on the Internet five times less often than cakes,” Denis Loganov added.

The study was conducted based on the demand for 30 million products sold in online stores throughout RUSSIA and presented on Price.ru.