2-nd-year student “International Economics” Scientific adviser: Pan’kiv O. E. CHTEI KNTEU,
ANALYSIS OF E-COMMERCE IN UKRAINE
The World Wide Web in the last decade has become the technological basis for the development of national markets of almost every country in the world and one of their main factors. New technological solutions affected the trade sector. A tendency to use the latest technology to conduct a business has appeared in the economy. Businesses and consumers seek to maximize the use of Internet, including the World Wide Web as a means of exchange goods and services due to its high speed of information transfer. Thus, payments through the Internet are very popular and electronic commerce (e-commerce) is of great importance nowadays. The purpose of the work is to clarify the current trends of e-commerce in Ukraine, its possibilities and prospects for the future. The e-commerce refers to all forms of business transactions, in which the interaction between parties is done electronically instead of physical exchanges or direct physical contact, in the result of which the ownership or the right to use product or service is transferred from one person to another [1, p.61]. Today, the e-commerce sphere in Ukraine is under the fast-moving development. It is obvious as many online stores in the Ukrainian segment of the network have been opened. This contributes to a significant increase of Internet users, as the number of persons, which have an access to the network, is very large. For example, the number of Internet users in Ukraine amounted to almost 5.5 million people, in the first half of the 2013. This is 20% more than at the same period last year [4]. E-commerce has become the leader of the Ukrainian economy in terms of growth. The market size of Internet commerce in Ukraine amounted to 1.59 billion last year, and almost three times exceeded the indicators of four years. Only in 2012, the market volume increased by 45%. The average annual cost of one online buyer makes 714 dollars [3]. The total number of postal parcels in 2012 amounted to 45.3 million and in comparison to the previous year increased by 59.16 % [2]. 1508 entities marked retailing, undertaken by firm’s postal order or via the Internet, as the main type of the activity, including 94 businesses and 1,414 individual entrepreneurs. However, 1075 entities of such kind of activity were registered in Ukraine last year [2]. Howsoever, these figures reflect only registered entities. The share of illegally operated in the Internet is much more. It includes online shopping in social networks that are not registered as business entities, and therefore do not pay taxes. Most try to minimize the amount of taxes in different ways, working on a simplified form of taxation: a business entity - individual. Tax charges for them, depending on the turnover, are up to 20 % of the minimum wage (1218 USD), while entities (juridical persons) pay 19 % tax on total income. Amounts of taxes vary by hundreds of times, helping online shopping to maintain low prices and high business profitability. Therefore Ukrainian online commerce is mostly in the shade. The growth of the e-commerce is a worldwide trend. However, there are internal reasons for the growth of virtual sales in Ukraine, mainly to deepen the penetration of the Internet and the rapid development of service delivery. The online seller doesn’t pay for the organization of showcases, rent and the seller’s staff. It allows online merchants to sell products at 15-20% cheaper than at retail stores. The electronic commerce market is growing daily. Howsoever, most Internet users are afraid to buy online because they think it’s dangerous. The main factors that push away Ukrainian customers from online buying are: doubtful reputation of online sellers, low level of service, inability to see and test the product before making a purchase or order, uncertainty about the integrity and reliability of the online seller that your paid goods will be delivered in an adequate (undamaged) condition. Most of customers do not have credit cards, which they can use online. But, despite this, there will be a considerable e-commerce market growth. The market grows by about 50% annually, and the trend should be maintained for, at least, the next 5 years. Investors are more willingly invest in the Internet market, and users who do decide to purchase online at least once, are not often in a hurry to stop. The analysis of e-commerce current trends in Ukraine showed that the process of computerization gave the impulse to conduct business through the Internet. Legal and legislative framework is under the development process. The constraint factors of e-commerce distribution are the lack of necessary payment means from the buyer, and the online shopping distrust. However, despite the existing problems, the dynamics of e-commerce shows positive results. The state has to stimulate the network infrastructure development, as the rational use of the trade will simplify business activities for enterprises of all sizes, give the possibility to enter international markets, deepen the integration of the Ukrainian economy into the world economy, and will reduce the costs of cash circulation.
A list of literature: 1. Assumption I. Encyclopedia of Internet-Business [Text] / I. Assumption - St. Petersburg.: Piter, 2001. – 432 p. 2. State Statistics Service of Ukraine - [electronic resource] - Access mode: http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/. 3. Online trading has become the leader of the Ukrainian economy in terms of growth // Journal Correspondent - [electronic resource] - Access mode: http://ua.korrespondent.net/journal/1576449. 4. In Ukraine, a growing number of online users // Voice Capitals - [electronic resource] - Access: http://newsradio.com.ua/2013_08.....
