Drones take off – Kommersant
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Marketplaces are noticing a noticeable increase in demand for amateur drones. Their sales on Wildberries in January-March grew almost 20 times year-on-year, to 26.7 thousand units, and on Ozon – 15 times, to 17.6 thousand units. The closure of flight zones in most regions and the increase in the number of fines for uncoordinated drone launches have not yet affected interest in them, market participants note. Experts believe that demand was also influenced by the popularization of drones in the media: consumers often hear about them in connection with military operations in Ukraine. Some of the devices, however, are directly purchased to participate in the conflict.
According to the analytical company Moneyplace, in the first quarter, sales of drones on Russian marketplaces grew 15-20 times. So, at Wildberries, according to analysts, sales of quadrocopters increased 20 times year-on-year, to 26.7 thousand units (less than 2 thousand devices were sold on the site in the first quarter of 2022). Over the same period, Ozon sold 17.6 thousand drones, which is 15 times more than a year earlier.
In monetary terms, sales increased tenfold: on Wildberries – up to 88 million rubles, and on Ozon – up to 57 million rubles. The average check within the top 20 amounted to 3.4 thousand rubles. in Wildberries and 5 thousand rubles. at Ozone. Models for children and amateur shooting are the most popular, noted in Moneyplace. According to the company, the number of active sellers of quadcopters for the year on Wildberries increased by 392%, to 521 sellers, on Ozon – by 556%, to 971 sellers. In Ozon, Sbermegamarket and Yandex.Market, Kommersant did not respond, Wildberries declined to comment.
The demand for drones on marketplaces has indeed increased many times over, but the trend is much less pronounced among official retailers due to the limited choice of devices, says Alexander Kaniovsky, First Deputy CEO of FlyDrone. In his opinion, the closure of flights in some regions of the Russian Federation will not interfere with the growing demand for drones, “there are simply not enough police officers to monitor all park areas where quadrocopters are usually launched, and other secluded places.” The number of fines for uncoordinated drone flights in closed areas is growing, Mr. Kaniovsky clarifies, “but this will not stop amateurs.”
Most of the regions began to restrict drone flights from October 2022 (see Kommersant dated November 8, 2022). After the incident with the drone in the Kremlin during the May holidays, the use of devices was limited almost everywhere (see Kommersant on May 5). Now the ban on the use of drones is already in effect in 40 regions, including Moscow, the Moscow Region and St. Petersburg.
Meanwhile, experts attribute the growing popularity of amateur drones, including with the widespread discussion of drones in connection with military operations in Ukraine. The growth in sales of quadrocopters on marketplaces is associated with “the popularization of this product in the media and on television in the context of a military operation,” explains Dmitry Ermolaev, CEO of Moneyplace. “Things that are talked about often and a lot on TV attract attention,” he notes. According to him, despite the restrictions, drones continue to be acquired, for example, for use in travel at home and abroad.
Part of the sales may be directly related to military operations. An interlocutor of Kommersant in the quadrocopter market says that at the moment about 20% of all video-capable drones sold in the Russian Federation “are sent to the zone of military operation.” TelecomDaily CEO Denis Kuskov agrees with this assessment: “Now this is one of the essential goods for the military. Given the ban on flights in some regions, quadcopters are mainly sent to the Ukrainian border.”
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