Russia
The Russian word for convenience store ‘продукты’ (produkti) roughly translates into English as ‘convenience foods’. Generally speaking, produkti offer the opportunity to purchase food, however ‘convenience’ is not always guaranteed.
The average produkti stocks items similar to equivalent stores in England, including soft drinks, canned foods, perishable goods and alcohol. The items on sale (and their quality) will often vary and availability of certain brands may fluctuate, but more ‘Russian’ items, including cured meats, potatoes, assorted pickled items in jars, vodka and cigarettes, remain consistently available. Amazingly, beer was not officially classed as alcohol in Russia until 2010.
Prior to this it could be purchased as a soft drink! Shopping in a produkti is a unique experience. The level of customer service provided by staff is minimal – a hangover from the communist era – and it is not unusual to be treated as a burden rather a customer.
It is imperative that you provide the exact change, down to the smallest kopek, when paying for items in a produkti – failure to do so will provoke a tirade of bitter remarks.
Key products
One innovation that has been anticipated in the Russian retail market more than any other, yet has failed to gain a strong foothold, is own label brands. According to Hans Muysson, vice president, product development, Schawk, Inc., an established place for these products is no closer to becoming a reality, as Russians still look to nationwide-recognisable brands.
This is similar to the US market’s initial resistance to own label and Mr Muysonn believes a number of things need to happen first: “The private-label boom in the US was fuelled, in part, by the growing cachet of brands like Target and Walmart, a development that hasn’t happened in Russia yet.”
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