The volume of Ukrainian e-commerce exports in 2020 increased by 30% and amounted to $450 million, while the majority of Ukrainian e-commerce platforms are designed exclusively for the local consumer, according to a study of the Ukrainian e-commerce market conducted by Soul Partners, Baker Tilly Ukraine and Aequo at supported by USAID.
“Prospects for the development of the export potential of e-commerce remain at a relatively low level. According to the results of the survey, over 85% of respondents declared the absence of export operations using e-commerce, while the majority of the interviewed entrepreneurs are extremely interested in the development of e-exports,” Partner and Advisory Practice Leader at Baker Tilly Ukraine Andriy Kaliushenko said.
According to the study, Ukrainian electronic exports are mainly represented through international platforms such as Amazon, Ebay and Etsy, while most Ukrainian platforms do not provide the possibility of export operations or international delivery.
The largest importer of Ukrainian goods at the end of the year was the United States, which share was 33% of the total Ukrainian e-commerce export. In second place is Russia (16%), followed by the U.K., Germany and Canada (4-7%). At the same time, a third of export operations in Ukraine falls on Kyiv, 10% on Kharkiv, and 8% on Dnipro. Products from the categories of food products, clothing and medicines dominated in the structure of export sales.
By the end of 2020, Ukrposhta became the largest logistics operator of international parcels (65% of the total number of parcels).
According to the authors of the study, the main obstacle to the development of e-commerce export is the non-recognition of Ukrainian certificates of conformity in the EU.
“The implementation of the Association Agreement by Ukraine and the mutual recognition of electronic signatures with the EU countries would have contributed to the integration of markets,” Partner and of Head of M&A at Aequo Hanna Babych said.
In addition, the entry of global e-commerce players into the Ukrainian market and the expansion of PayPal’s functionality could increase the potential of e-export, according to the study.
