Russians buying from foreign online stores prefer to pay on delivery

SPSR Express, QIWI and LeRee (a subsidiary of global technology holding company LeEco) have analyzed the preferences of the Russians who shopped at online stores in Q1 2017. The number of Russian buyers who preferred to pay on delivery has grown 1.5 times compared to the end of 2016. This is the result of the first experiment in Russia when Pay on Delivery for cross-border online purchases was offered on 11 November 2016 at LeRee’s shopping platform Le.ru.

The Russians prefer paying on delivery to the courier to paying online. Between January and March this year, 73% of buyers chose QIWI’s pay on delivery from Le.ru online store, while the remaining 27% prepaid their orders on the website. Back in November-December 2016, the two options were equally popular (49.5% and 50.5% respectively).

As a general rule (89%), buyers choose courier delivery, in other cases they pick up their orders from SPSR Express delivery operator’s customer service zones. Paying cash to the courier is what customers choose most often (only 12% pay by card).

Being able to see what you are buying before you pay is an important factor that influences your decision to buy. This thesis is further supported by the growth in the average order value which rose by 19% in the 1st quarter of 2017 versus the 4th quarter of 2016 in the regions and by 28% in Moscow. According to LeRee, pay on delivery from QIWI helps to boost sales (conversion rate, number of orders) by more than 30%.

According to SPSR Express, pay on delivery is popular in Moscow (53.8%), St. Petersburg (17.4%), Yekaterinburg (4.5%), Kazan (3.9%) and Rostov-On-Don (3.8%). It is also gaining popularity in Krasnodar, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Ufa and Chelyabinsk.

At the federal level, the conversion rate for the QIWI checkout page with pay on delivery went above 90% in the first quarter of 2017.

Victor Xu, President of LeRee (LeEco Russia and Eastern Europe): “At the time when we were launching Pay on Delivery in autumn 2016, we were sure it would have a strong appeal for LeEco buyers. One of the pillars of LeRee philosophy is to serve customer needs to the highest extent by offering high-quality products at the best price in the most convenient way. Thanks to cooperation with the QIWI payment service and SPSR Express delivery operator, our online store was the first among cross-border e-commerce operators in Russia to offer an opportunity to pay on delivery. Given how impressively popular this method has proved, we can say that our experiment was extremely successful. We will continue to delight Le brand friends with convenient and diverse ways of buying LeEco’s smart devices.”

Alex Borisov, Director of Business Development at SPSR Express: “Online shoppers in Russia traditionally prefer to pay on delivery. When a product (a smartphone, for example) is ordered from a foreign online store, the option to pay on delivery certainly helps to drive sales and the average check; on the other hand, successful customer experience makes you want to buy again. We are sure that joint cooperation between our companies in offering this option will also help to raise awareness of the LeEco brand across Russia.”

Stanislav Savelyev, Head of E-Commerce at QIWI: “The first results of Pay on Delivery clearly exceed our expectations and demonstrate that online shopping styles typical for Russia can be effectively applied to cross-border e-commerce, given the existing payment preferences. By combining the efforts of payment services, online retailers and delivery operators, we can effectively increase customer loyalty and generate sustainable sales growth without a running a significant risk of a cash gap.”

Pay on Delivery that went live on 11 November 2016 on Le.ru helps buyers to pay at the time when they are receiving their orders. Smartphones and accessories ordered from Le.ru can be paid directly to the courier in cash or by card. A unique service for cross-border e-commerce became available thanks to LeRee’s cooperation with the QIWI payment service and express delivery operator SPSR.