Paying for Goods and Services Online
Online shopping has become very popular in Russia. On Ozon, Wildberries, Yandex.Market, and Sbermarket, you can order almost anything: from everyday household items, books, pet supplies and gadgets, to clothes and shoes. In addition, by using Yandex.Market and Sbermarket, you can even order medicines from pharmacies.
All these applications can be downloaded for both Android and iPhone devices, but unfortunately, they are only available in Russian (except for Yandex.Delivery).
Ozon and Wildberries have pickup points all over the country: if you are in Moscow, you almost certainly have one or two in your block. Delivery to a pickup point is cheaper than door-to-door delivery.
In Russia, currently only MIR bank cards are accepted for payments, and this also applies to online shopping. You can get a MIR card from a local bank. HSE University helps its students and staff to get the relevant cards.
To pay for goods delivered through these applications, please follow these steps:
- Log in to your account by entering all necessary data;
- Choose any product you like and add it to the ‘Cart’;
- Go to the ‘Shopping Cart’, click on the product added and select the ‘Pay’ option;
- Enter all the necessary data in the delivery information fields, including the address of the nearest pick-up point;
- Use the ‘Pay online’ option;
- In the next section, enter your card details in the appropriate fields. These details will include your bank card number, expiration date, and CVC code.
- After entering your card details, this information will remain in the application for future payments, without you needing to re-enter the information.
There are also various food delivery services such as Yandex.Food, Vkusvill, Samokat, Local Kitchen (in Russian «Кухня на районе»).
In these applications, the payment process is similar to the previous one:
- Add your desired items to the cart.
- Go to the ‘shopping cart’ section, enter your address, choose a payment method and select other delivery options;
- Wait for the courier.
Delivery of these services is available in almost all areas of Moscow within the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD). However, please do check whether delivery is possible when making your order. There is a map on the website of Local Kitchen, which shows the delivery options in different areas of Moscow.
Food and grocery delivery can take varying amounts of time, but most items are delivered within two hours. Samokat delivers groceries within 15 minutes, and Vkusvill has the option of selecting express delivery (30 minutes). Orders from services such as Yandex Market, Ozon, and Wildberries can take longer (from 1 day to 1 week). You can see an estimate of the delivery time when placing the order.