Development of the territorial structure of large-scale food retail in Russia

Abstract

In less than twenty years, the Russian food products retail chain has gone through all main stages of development: from the initial penetration of foreign networks and a period of active territorial expansion, to the current stage, characterized by increased concentration and competition in the market, as well as the transition of leading networks to multi-format. Principal results of the development of domestic network trade in food products are reviewed at the levels of regions, large cities and individual companies using the official statistics and aggregated data of the largest retailers. The socio-economic heterogeneity of Russia and the catch-up nature of development have led to uneven coverage of the country’s territory by food chains: innovative waves in retail trade do not reach the lower levels in the service centers hierarchy. There is a small group of regions where an active growth of network commerce continues, while in the rest of the territory their development is close to saturation or just in its infancy. In the eastern and southern regions the network trade faces heavy socio-economic and socio-cultural barriers. The new, more advanced stage will see further polarization of consumer space: large cities will lengthen their lead over the rest of the country in terms of the level and variety of services provided.