Foot traffic at shopping malls in Russia has declined due to cost-cutting measures
In Russia, foot traffic at medium-sized and large shopping centers fell by 2% year-over-year and by 25% compared to the same period in 2019.
This is according to data from the analytics firm Focus Technologies, as cited by Russian media.
The main reasons cited are a decline in purchasing power and the population’s shift toward a frugal lifestyle.
According to the Sber Index, Russians’ spending on a range of non-food items also declined in March: specifically, on clothing, footwear, and accessories—by 4.5% year-over-year; on jewelry—by 2%; and on sporting goods—by 1.9%. Spending on construction and repair goods fell the most—by nearly 10%—as did spending on furniture and home decor—by more than 12%.
Experts note that consumers have become more cautious and are making fewer impulse purchases.
In Russia, telecom operators have agreed to a moratorium on expanding channels to Europe.
As a reminder, in Russia, the popularity of Asian messaging apps has surged following restrictions on access to Telegram.
Recall that the Russian State Duma is complaining about communication problems due to the blocking of Telegram.
Amid attempts to block hostile information resources in Russia, a massive service outage occurred again on April 6, affecting state services in particular.
A similar outage occurred in Russia on April 3; telecom experts directly linked it to the operation of equipment designed to block unwanted resources. Founder Pavel Durov stated that the Russian authorities’ attempts to restrict VPN operations led to a massive failure in the national payment system.
