Russian consumers have been purchasing sporting goods more frequently in the last few months, basically opting for more expensive options than a year ago, according to certain findings from a market study that have been released by a government agency, Platform OFD.
The agency estimated that it rose by 15 percent between July and October across the country as compared to the same period a year ago, and by 17 percent in Moscow. It said that the average transaction recorded in Russian sporting goods stores went up by 4.2 percent to 4,200 rubles (€59-$65) during the period, as compared to the same period of last year.
The agency did not give a precise figure about the frequency of the purchases. It also didn’t give a figure for the total size of the Russian market. The latest available estimate, formulated by the Russian Business Consulting agency, said the market was worth 251 billion rubles (€3.56bn-$3.92bn) in 2017.
We assume that the recent growth in consumption of sporting goods may be attributed to the rising popularity of branded sneakers, especially the more expensive ones. The recent growth of the market was particularly remarkable in view of generally weak sales of shoes in Russia during the past cold summer season and the fact that retail prices for shoes and clothing generally declined in September, due perhaps to the strengthening of the ruble earlier this year.
Furthermore, online sales have been growing faster than those made at physical stores lately. Decathlon, which has just started offering free returns in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the surrounding regions for products ordered online, says its own e-commerce operations have been rising by 20 percent annually during the past few years.
On the other hand, there is still strong potential for further growth in the more technical segment of the Russian sporting goods market. Rostad, the country’s state statistical service, has estimated that only 12 percent of Russian citizens are committed to healthy living by practicing at least one sport regularly. Russia’s Health Minister, Veronica Skvortsova, said that the share of Russian citizens committed to healthy living was actually close to 40 percent, adding that her objective is to boost that figure to 60 percent by 2024.
The Russian Health Ministry recently revealed plans to spend three billion rubles (€42.5m-$46.5m) on various campaigns to raise the popularity of healthy living standards in the country’s population. The ministry said that these campaigns would be primarily focused on promoting healthy eating and various sports.
