Russians prefer to go to the store abroad

Russian capital flows abroad. Our tourists take two and a half percent of GDP to European and American stores. Going to “shop” in Europe has become a lovely tradition for our fellow citizens, which for the country turns into lost profits and lost benefits.

By the end of the year, Russian consumers will take $ 42 billion to foreign stores - this is the result of a study by City-Bank experts. Their customers, residents of million-plus cities, men and women aged 22 years, have already spent more in the first half of the year than in the same period in the pre-crisis 2007 year. Compared to last year, the share of overseas purchases increased from twenty-odd to 28%. The first category, 22% of all expenses, is hotels. And the second category is clothes and shoes. “There are exactly two reasons why Russians prefer to go to a store abroad,” said Tatyana Pozdnyakova, president of BSG Luxury Group, price and quality. As for Moscow prices, and these are astronomical amounts, they are not just overpriced, but absolutely do not correlate with European and especially American ones. Moreover, quotas allocated to the Russian market are quite small, and the taste of buyers in Russia, in particular in Moscow, leaves much to be desired ”

“The budgets allocated by shops for the purchase of collections are modest, however, a choice must be made. If you do not go beyond the budget so that there is both a collection and quantity, the quality immediately drops, ”says Vesti FM correspondent Lyudmila Shaulina.

Lev Khasis, Chairman of the Presidium of the Association of Retailers, blames foreign brands for bullied prices: “Due to the low level of competition in the Russian market, most Western brands prefer to earn as much as possible in Russia. I can give a simple example: there is such a world-famous company LEGO, a leader in the manufacture of toys, located, by the way, in Europe. From Europe to Russia it is much closer to bring than to the United States. But a LEGO toy in Russia is about three times more expensive than in the United States. ”

Taxes and duties are another savings item. “The state, thank God, reduced duties, nevertheless, they remain very significant. In addition, buyers pay VAT, and if we buy in Europe, we will refund VAT at the border. 12% we return VAT, plus another duty, percent 20 at least. If you take the mass market, the middle segment, then there the difference can be 5 percent, and if you take luxury things, the difference can be twofold. If you go to the Chanel or Dolce Gabbana boutique, you will hear only Russian speech there, ”adds Ksenia Ryasova, President of Finn Flare and Applemoon.

Overseas buyers are favored by the US megamalls, this country accounts for 16% of all payments abroad. Share of Italy 11%, France 9%. The five leaders in the 2011 year are closed by Spain and the UAE with 4% overseas purchases. Based on materials from Vesti FM.