Men in St. Petersburg have become 2 times more active in using marketplaces

Russians are increasingly using marketplaces—traffic to such resources has grown by 72% over the past year, while the involvement of men has become 90% higher. The all-Russian trend is confirmed among men in St. Petersburg – their involvement has increased by 217%. The average time that Russian users spent online shopping also increased by 33%. The greatest increase in traffic was shown by zoomers and users 56+ – in 2023, these categories spent 2 times more gigabytes than the year before. Trends were identified by Yota analysts based on anonymized subscriber data.

On average, in 2023, each marketplace user used 58% more mobile internet. The most noticeable increase in activity during this time was in Megamarket (3 times more than a year earlier), Ozon (similarly 3 times), as well as Yandex Market and the Simalend service (each +46%).

The hottest months on marketplaces in 2023 were July, October and November. At this time, the activity of Russians increased by 14-19% of the monthly average.

Millennials are the most likely users of marketplaces, accounting for 34% of traffic in this category. Also, subscribers aged 36-45 years (28%) and 46-55 years old (17%) gravitate towards online shopping. At the same time, the greatest dynamics are demonstrated by zoomers (14-20 years old) and users over 56 years old – both groups showed a twofold increase in consumed traffic over the year.

Although Russian users have begun to pay more attention to online shopping, the audience of marketplaces has remained virtually unchanged over the past year. The exception was
category 56+, the number of this age group increased by 15%. These same users began to stay on marketplaces 1.5 times longer than in 2022. However, interest in certain services does not depend on the age of subscribers.

In St. Petersburg, today 60% of marketplace clients are men, and they consume 54% of traffic. Their interest has grown significantly over the past year: in 2023, this category of users spent 90% more gigabytes than in 2022, and women – by 56%. Preferences for specific services also vary by gender. Thus, men in St. Petersburg are much more active on the Internet platforms Megamarket (69%), OnlineTrade (they account for 62% of traffic), AliExpress (61%) and Ozon (56%). Women prefer Sima-land (69%), KazanExpress (53%) and Wildberries (55%).

Analysts from another federal operator also confirmed the growing interest in marketplaces. The press service of MegaFon said that over the year the volume of traffic to such sites in St. Petersburg increased by almost 50%. Thursday is the most popular day for choosing goods in online stores: at this time the activity of St. Petersburg residents increases by 12% of the daily average. Interestingly, on weekends residents prefer to take a break from online shopping; traffic declines on Saturday and Sunday.