UPDATE: Russia’s Cyber Monday to see over 1 mln visitors Jan 30 – organizer

(Adds expert comments in paragraphs 11–12)

MOSCOW, Jan 25 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Cyber Monday sellout, which will take place on January 30, will attract over 1 million visitors on Web site c-monday.com and will be for the first time supported by the local electronic communications association, Leonid Dovladbegyan, general director of Internet agency Expert Town, the event’s organizer, said on Wednesday.

“Cyber Monday events have been held in the country since 2013. They’re organized in late January because it’s the end of the lengthy New Year holidays in the country and people usually get bonuses for the previous year this month,” Dovladbegyan said at a news conference.

“The other reason is to support the market in the period when sales are not at their best. Moreover, online sales are the highest during crises, when patterns of consumers’ behavior change as people spend more time in the Internet in search of bargains.”

Retailers’ revenues usually fall in January while costs remain the same. “They need money and are ready to grant discounts to get some cash. Besides, they can have overstock and need new audience,” Dovladbegyan said, adding that discounts are drivers of sales.

The online event is also important for the market as it engages people who have not earlier bought online; it raises purchasing capacity; and sets traditions of annual sellouts, he said.

This year, Cyber Monday will have over 200 participants and more than 15,000 offers, while last year there were 152 participants with household appliances and smartphones being bestsellers.

Among the main problems the event’s organizer mentioned the lack of trust among buyers and a negative feedback in social networks following faulty discounts, when retailers cheat with prices and offers.

Popular social network Odnoklassniki will act as the event’s partner on January 30, and its users will have bonuses, he said.

Sergei Plugotarenko, director of the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC), said it lobbies the Internet industry’s interests in all aspects and “we liked the project.”

“As of the end of 2016, the Runet (the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet) accounted for about 2.5% of the country’s gross domestic product, and the share of e-commerce was its bigger component,” he said.

Ivan Kurguzov, head of RAEC’s e-commerce cluster, said profit of the companies-participants double or even triple on the event’s day.

“The daily turnover of large Internet stores on Cyber Monday will amount to 1.4 billion rubles and 875 million rubles for the medium and small-sized businesses, which will make 2.3 billion rubles in total,” he said.

Sergei Grebennikov, director of non-commercial Regional Public Center of Internet Technologies (ROCIT), said the entity will closely monitor the event and make test purchases.

(59.2168 rubles – U.S. $1)

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