American online retailer Amazon has started delivering electronics and household appliances to Russia as it looks to capitalize on a rapidly growing Russian e-commerce market currently valued at more than $12 billion annually.
But experts think that Amazon faces significant logistical problems in making deliveries to Russia, where orders are often subject to significant delays, Gazeta.ru reported. The online retail giant uses UPS for bringing goods to its Russian customers.
Amazon has put limitations on the value and type of goods that it will send.
Orders that exceed $260 or that require individual customs clearance will only be deliverable to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Stavropol, Novorossiisk and Nizhny Novgorod.
Amazon previously announced that it was expanding the range of goods it delivers to Russia, and in June it began shipping clothing and shoes. Prior to that, customers in Russia could only purchase online films, books and audio recordings.
Amazon's website still lists goods that cannot be delivered at all to Russia, including Kindle e-readers.
Amazon currently operates in Canada, China, Brazil, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and Spain, and sends goods to another 61 countries. The Seattle-headquartered company previously said it would open a Russian branch, but so far no further details of that project have emerged.
E-payment company PayPal has ranked Russia in the top five fastest-growing Internet markets.
Last year, Russia's online sales totaled more than $12 billion, up 27 percent from 2011.
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