Inflation, Cost Saving and Online Purchase: Consumption Behavior of Russians in the First Half of 2020th

Basing on materials of representative sociological surveys held in 2022-2024, consumer practices features implemented by Russian people in actual socio-economic conditions have been analyzed. It has been shown that inflation has become usual context in consumer practices for most Russians in recent years, meanwhile frontal price growth is noticeable for all groups of Russian society. Crisis phenomena emerged in the fact that earlier habitual categories of goods and services moved into deficit on consumer market in 2022. The major problems were delt with drugs and remedies in that period. Use of Internet has persistently established in regular consumer practices of wide groups of Russian population. More than half of respondents use distant opportunities when resorting to various services and purchasing non-food products. While maintaining age and territorial-settlement disproportion there have been noted intensive involvement in online consumption among traditionally falling behind in this relation groups: representatives of elderly cohort and those who live in small settlements. The base characteristic of Russian people’s consumption strategy is mass transition to forced consumer saving when dominant and often the only factor of acquired goods choice is its minimal price in the line of possible analogues. This problem is mass and stable: the vast majority of those for whom it is relevant do not expect improvement in their life conditions on a foreseeable time horizon.