"Cat's Paw" became popular online, costing Russians 470 million rubles!

As the world's largest country, Russia has a total population of 144 million. According to Data Insight, sales in Russia's e-commerce market are expected to grow by 36% year-on-year to 10.7 trillion rubles (about 111.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024. In addition, affected by many international factors, Russia has become another hot spot for Chinese cross-border sellers to go overseas.

Therefore, understanding the current trends in Russia has become a compulsory course for sellers.

With sales of 470 million rubles, "Cat's Paw" has become a hot item on the e-commerce platform

If we talk about the hottest products in Russia, we must mention a stress-relieving toy - "cat claws". Data shows that from April to November this year, Russians spent 470 million rubles (about 31.67 million yuan) on these stress-relieving toys. This demand reached its peak in October this year, when Russians spent 157 million rubles (about 10.58 million yuan) on them, a 41% increase in sales compared to September.

(Photo source: RB.RU)

As can be seen from the pictures, these cat claw pinches are quite cute. It is precisely because of their cute shape that the product has attracted the attention of a large number of young consumers. According to information, pinches are usually made of soft silicone material, and their characteristic is that no matter how they are squeezed or kneaded, they can slowly return to their original shape, which provides users with a unique decompression experience.

RB.RU (Russian media) reported that the sales rankings showed that it was not only the cat-paw-shaped pinches that were popular, but also bear-paw, rabbit-paw, biscuit-shaped pinches of various sizes and colors.

The "cat's claw" pinch is also a best-seller at Wildberries. It is reported that this new type of decompression toy first appeared on the Wildberries market in April. Statistics show that 28 similar products were sold on the platform that month. By November, there were more than 4,500 listings of such toys on the Wildberries market, with an average sales amount of 315 rubles (about 21.25 yuan).

According to statistics from Mayak, a statistical platform , some sellers can achieve monthly sales of more than 10,000 squeeze toys. For example, the seller Slando sold 55,400 luminous squeeze toys in 27 days, earning 12.6 million rubles (about 851,600 yuan) ; another seller, dangeros&free, sold 12,200 squeeze toys in the same period, earning 4.78 million rubles (about 323,100 yuan) .

In addition to Wildberries, similar cat claw pinches are also popular on Ozon, with sales exceeding 100,000 pieces in a single week .

It is worth mentioning that this is not the only decompression toy that is popular in Russia. Earlier, there was also a small toy similar to whack-a-mole that was also very popular. According to a relevant research report by the Russian Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), 10% of Russians will fall into deep depression in 2023, which shows that the market prospects of related toys in Russia are broad.

Teenagers are obsessed with dressing up as orcs, and sales of related products are skyrocketing

Recently, a subculture called Квадробика (quadrupedal sports, quadrupeds) has emerged among Russian teenagers. This subculture is similar to the "Furry" in China, which comes from the English word "furry", which originally means "fluffy". Influenced by this trend, the demand for related accessories on e-commerce platforms such as Wildberries has also begun to soar.

According to data provided by Wildberries & Russ's press department, in the third quarter, sales of related products in Russia increased by 4,800%, and total sales increased by 4,700%; the growth in the Moscow region was slightly lower, with sales and sales increasing by 4,200% and 4,400% respectively. However, the company's spokesperson also said that such a sharp increase was mainly related to the low base last year, when there were almost no related products on the market.

As of October, there are more than 15,000 listings of related products on Wildberries, mainly including masks (including those for coloring), tails, suits (including masks and tails), badges, T-shirts, and gloves. Some listings have more than 10,000 comments and more than 1,000 buyer photos.

(Photo source: RB.RU)

According to data from the statistical platform Avito, sales of related props this summer have increased 12 times compared to the same period in 2023. Using квадробика (quadrupedal movement) as the keyword, Wildberries can find 6,600 listings (as of October).

In September, the average price of квадробика (quadrupedal sports) masks on the Wildberries platform was 1,100 rubles (about 74.36 yuan), and the average price of tails was 600 rubles (about 40.56 yuan); gloves and socks can be purchased for certain animal characters, starting at 100 rubles (about 6.76 yuan). Popular sets cost 1,800 rubles, and handmade related products can be priced at 5,000 rubles (about 338 yuan).

On Ozon, when searching for квадробер (four-legged role player) as the keyword, 2,913 listings appeared, and when searching for квадробика (four-legged sports), 3,769 listings appeared.

Not only the number of listings, but also the order amount and product types differ between the two platforms. According to a staff of the market analysis service platform Moneyplace, compared with the third quarter of 2023, the average order amount of related products on Wildberries increased by 33% in the third quarter of this year, while it decreased by 20% on Ozon; in terms of the number of product types, Wildberries increased by 20 times, while Ozon increased by 77 times.

In terms of sales volume and sales revenue, Wildberries' sales of квадробика (quadrupedal sports) related products in the third quarter were 258.6 million rubles (about 17.48 million yuan), with an average order amount of 488 rubles (about 32.99 yuan), and a total sales volume of approximately 50 million pieces; on Ozon, the total revenue of such products was 37.7 million rubles (about 2.5485 million yuan), and sales volume reached 69,000 pieces.

As winter approaches, seasonal products are still in high demand

Russia enters winter in mid-November and lasts until the end of March. During this period, if there is a commodity whose demand has been rising, it must be thermal insulation and heating products.

According to data released by Ozon, with the change of seasons and the approach of winter, the demand for footwear reached a peak during the fourth quarter; according to the search popularity calculation, this year's "women's winter sports shoes", "women's winter shoes", "women's winter boots" keywords increased by 316%, 310% and 248% respectively; "men's winter shoes" and "men's winter sports shoes" increased by 247% and 239% respectively. The sales of "fur and leather snow boots" and "moon boots" also increased by 220% and 218% month-on-month. Ozon reminds sellers that in winter, whether in the city or outdoors, the warmth, anti-slip and waterproof performance of shoes have always been the rigid needs of the Russian people.

In addition to warm shoes, down jackets, sweaters, thermal clothing, etc. have also become popular items for Russians. According to data from a certain platform, from September 10 to October 9, the average daily sales of Ozon's clothing category exceeded 30 million rubles (about 2.0238 million yuan), and the average daily sales volume exceeded 200,000. Among them, the search index of "women's down jacket" was 218,600, and the shopping cart conversion rate was 15.62%; the search index of "men's down jacket" was 100,600, and the shopping cart conversion rate was 12.34%. In addition to down jackets, sweaters also performed well. Among them, the search index of multiple "women's sweaters" related keywords was higher than 200,000, and the search index of "men's sweaters" exceeded 95,000.

In addition, heating equipment such as radiators, infrared heaters, electric heaters, winter sports equipment such as skates, car antifreeze, anti-skid tires, etc. have also ushered in a sales peak due to the weather.

Faced with the booming growth of the Russian e-commerce market, Chinese cross-border sellers need to keep up with local consumption trends and seasonal changes, respond flexibly to the market, and adjust their business strategies in a timely manner to meet the changing needs of Russian consumers, thereby gaining an advantage in the fierce market competition.

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