2 Febuary 2012

Russian mobile phone retailer Svyaznoy has reported that net sales for its online store surged 133% to RUB3.5 billion (USD111.8 million) in 2011, RBCDaily reports. Mobile phone and smartphone sales grew 20% and accounted for 45% of all sales. Laptops and notebooks was the highest growth category, posting sales of RUB1 billion (USD31.9 million) compared to RUB147 million (USD4.7 million) in the prior year. Sales of accessories improved almost seven-fold to RUB162 million (USD5.2 million) while camera sales increased to RUB479 million (USD15.3 million). Some 73% of all transactions were in the regions of the country.

The number of visitors to the site rose 71.4% in 2011 with the highest activity recorded in December during the New Year period. According to Svyaznoy, the rapid growth of its online sales is due to expanding the product range away from mobile phones into electronics, such as laptops, netbooks and cameras.