Key market segments
Most online services boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, in particular, food delivery, online education, and eGovernment. Digital payments and banking, which had already been widely used prior to the pandemic, continued to rise. Furthermore, the lockdown sparked investment in telemedicine. Even though eight out of ten Russians were ready to try out online consultations with doctors, only 17 percent tried them out as of 2022. Another growing segment was dating services, used by over 12 million Russians.As many other industries, digital services are undergoing transformation due to the exodus of Western companies from Russia in response to the war in Ukraine. The eTravel segment was particularly impacted by the market exit of Booking.com, which was estimated to have occupied 80 percent of the online hotel booking market revenue in the country in 2021. Furthermore, key digital payment providers, such as Apple Pay and PayPal, suspended operations in Russia.
