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CEO Fashion Consulting Group

For overseas shopping There are both rational and irrational reasons. Shopping while traveling abroad makes sense not only because of the benefits, but also because of the pleasure of the process itself. It is for the sake of this pleasure that the same people who saved and chose goods at a discount in a mass shopping center are happy and easy to leave significant amounts in luxury boutiques.

A significant part of the money that is spent in the process of foreign shopping is completely justified expenses for “pleasant moments of life”, and irrational “bonuses” - relaxation, pleasure, pleasant pastime - are no less valuable to our lives than savings. However, is there still a benefit in shopping abroad?

What is cheaper in Russia

Of course, prices in rubles inevitably rose in 2015, with most of the major international brands squeezing their markups in Russia due to the fall in the purchasing power of Russians. This applies to both mass and premium brands. This is evidenced by prices and public statements by the heads of Uniqlo, Inditex and Mango. So, for example, Mango reduces its prices in Russia by 20%. This measure came into force on April 23 and applies to all lines of chain stores: Woman, Man, Kids and Violeta. Another example is the British brand Karen Millen, which announced back in February that their prices in Russia are now equivalent to those in the UK. Premium brands also use other steps, for example, they bring “lightweight” categories of goods to our market - such as Chanel mini-handbags. Boutique Italian brand Etro in GUM conducted a revaluation in early April, reducing clothing prices by an average of 15-20%. The Versace boutique, located in the same place, adjusted prices down on April 9th.

International brands have the opportunity to take such steps, as this does not significantly affect their global business as a whole, but allows them to strengthen the loyalty of Russian customers. Thus, today, in terms of euros, dollars or pounds, prices in Russia have become much closer to European ones. But still with the exception of certain types of goods. For example, women's H&M Super Skinny Fit jeans cost 1,539 rubles (£19.99) in the UK and 1,299 rubles in Moscow, Skinny Low men's jeans cost 2,309 rubles (£29.99) in Britain, and in Russia 1 999 rubles. Another example from the premium segment: the Escada Delwys dress costs $1,150 on the site, that is, approximately 58,650 rubles, and in Russia - 46,574 rubles.

Why go to Europe

Nevertheless, in general, prices in Russia remain higher, by 10–15% or more. But if you do manage to figure out cheaper goods in Europe, the benefit of this small difference will be offset by the cost of flight and accommodation. Therefore, European shopping, as well as shopping in Dubai or New York, makes sense not so much for the sake of saving in stores, but for the pleasure of the shopping process itself and the opportunity to have more choice. Collections of foreign brands in Russia this year are incomplete. For example, they do not have “high-risk models”, palettes are simplified, and expensive models, the so-called “collection spike add-ons”, are excluded.

In addition, abroad you can shop in the outlets of the manufacturers themselves, and not in discounts. Outlet is fundamentally different from discounts. A discount is a secondary retail sale of a product that stores bought, put their margin on, but could not sell and are now trying to make a discount. Part of the discounted goods is of unknown origin, often counterfeit or "local spill" with a foreign name.

Unlike a discount, an outlet is a store of the manufacturer himself, who, while offering a discount, still values ​​his reputation. There are no counterfeits in outlets, but you need to keep in mind that some of the collections sold are models made specifically for outlets. Such models resemble the main collection, but they are simpler in design and made of cheaper materials. Unfortunately, on this moment there are no outlets of major international brands in Russia.

And, of course, if you are looking not for the pleasure of shopping, but for the benefit, then it is much easier to find it on the Internet. For example, when purchasing fashionable clothes through the Farfetch.com website, you will receive it in Russia at a price that has already been taxed, that is, in fact, duty free.

How much do things cost in Russia and abroad

Name and brand

In Great Britain

Women's dress

During the sales period, shops become almost more popular than museums and architectural monuments. This is a story about where exactly in Europe you should go for inexpensive clothes, jewelry or children's goods.

Germany

Czech

Finland

Spain

Poland

Alas, this year, those who do not qualify for the “budget” competition will be unpleasantly surprised by the prices for paid education in Russian universities.

The cheapest - MEPhI

In many faculties, you will have to pay 30-60 thousand rubles at once. more. For example, a year of study at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology will cost 250 thousand rubles. (in the past it was 200 thousand). In REU them. Plekhanov, training in jurisprudence cost 290 thousand rubles last year, this year it is already 315 thousand rubles. At MGIMO, the Faculty of Economics will ruin 500 thousand rubles. per year (in the past they paid 440 thousand). In order to realize the dream of becoming a pediatrician, you will have to pay 230.8 thousand in First Honey (and last year the fee was 173 thousand). Dentists there also went up in price by 80 thousand rubles at once.

The most affordable prices among the leading metropolitan universities at MEPhI: training in the specialty "informatics and computer technology" will cost only 109 thousand rubles. in year. That's just to enter there, even for the money is difficult. The minimum for payers is 210 USE points!

In regional universities, prices also jumped, but not so sharply. For example, at Voronezh State University, "economics" will cost 102.6 thousand rubles. (10 thousand more expensive than in the past). In Yaroslavl State University, the same specialty is a little more expensive - -118 thousand - True, if you almost missed the competition, and the USE score is not less than 180, you can get a 20-30% discount.

But, whatever the discounts, very few can afford to lay out even 100 thousand a year for the education of their son or daughter. And the more offensive is the fact that in many European universities education is either cheaper or completely free. And the quality of diplomas is an order of magnitude higher, judging by the place of universities in international rankings. For example, in French state universities, the cost of education rarely exceeds 200-300 euros per year (only 13-20 thousand rubles!) - the so-called registration fee. Plus, you need to pay another 200 euros for student insurance. And that's it. And then save up money for housing, textbooks and accommodation, because upon receipt student visa you need to prove that the account has required amount for life for a year. True, engineering education in France is more expensive than humanitarian education.

In Germany, the prices are also acceptable - 150-290 euros per semester, that is, 300-600 euros per year. And this, again, is not a tuition fee, but “semester fees”, they include administrative costs, travel for students for public transport. Paid education - for those who receive a second degree. But there are differences between the different federal states. For example, Baden-Württemberg (which includes, in particular, the famous Heidelberg University) is the first federal state in Germany, which since 2017 has introduced a tuition fee for foreign students from countries outside the EU: 1500 euros per semester. This will affect only newly enrolled students, already studying (20 thousand foreigners) will continue to study on the same terms.

Language will bring to Europe

“In Europe, universities receive solid financial support from the state,” explains Irina Abankina, Director of the Institute for the Development of Education at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.- Using state funds, as well as its own, the university sets such prices and discounts for educational programs that allow it to attract the most capable and motivated children. Because the quality of a university, its achievements, and its place in the ranking are largely determined by the quality of its students. After all, they participate in scientific developments, publish scientific articles. Russian universities are limited in setting discounts. By law, they do not have the right to make the price of paid education lower than the norm of budget financing of the same specialty. Otherwise, it turns out that the state subsidizes those who did not enter the competition. (Let's say the state pays 150,000 for a budget student, and the university takes 50,000 from a contract employee, on average, it turns out 100,000 rubles per student. That is, 50,000. budget money go to the payer. - Ed.) And the standard is gradually growing. It includes rising prices, higher salaries for teachers - by 2018 they should be twice the average for the region. Paid education includes expenses for the maintenance of property in proportion to the number of payers. Universities are already facing limited solvent demand of families. leader of one of technical universities he admitted to me bitterly: “Well, how can I explain to my parents that this year they will have to pay 217 thousand, if in the past education cost 140 thousand?”

Another thing is that only having a few hundred euros, you will not enter a foreign university. The first condition is a document confirming professional knowledge of the language. Next, you need to write motivation letter why a person wants to study at this university, what are his plans for the future. In addition, attach a list of your publications, if any, letters of recommendation, documents confirming the previous level of education, diplomas of winners in competitions, etc. This whole procedure of communicating with the university is not quick. Not like in Russia: he came, passed the exam, and that's it. You can enter a German university after studying for a year in Russian university or by taking preparatory courses at the university itself. The Germans do not recognize Russian school certificates as a sufficient basis for admission. Especially popular faculties (medicine, jurisprudence) have their own recruitment system, where places have been waiting for years. And plus everything - especially stubborn can find a part-time job. In Germany, students can work 120 full-time per year (or 240 half-days), part-time jobs directly at the university - without restrictions. In France - 18-20 hours a week.

Comparison of the cost of products in our country and in European countries

« real time» studies how the cost of products in Russia and in European countries correlates with the average salary. The comparison turned out to be not in favor of the native country: the food basket in some European countries is even cheaper, but salaries are at least twice as much, or even an order of magnitude.

Unseen beast: products with delivery

For more than two years, the analytical service of Realnoe Vremya has been conducting a monthly study of price dynamics in grocery supermarkets in Kazan. It is carried out according to the methodology of Rosstat on the basis of the standards of the consumer basket.

Now, however, we decided to look at the same “food” topic from a different angle - to find out how the people of Russia live in comparison with the inhabitants of European countries. Unfortunately, it is not possible to study prices by personally shopping in several European countries, but the Internet comes to our aid.

In most European countries, you can easily find at least one large grocery chain that offers its customers an online product catalog, or even a delivery service. It was these services that we used to find out the level of prices in European countries.

We decided to compare prices in Metro with large stores in nine European countries. Photo arhangelsk-catalog.ru

For the purity of the experiment, we decided to act in a similar way with respect to Russian prices. Here, unfortunately, there are quite a few such services (and specifically in Kazan there are no supermarkets with a delivery service or remote “collection” of a ready-made grocery basket at all) - therefore, we used the site of a large store, which is usually not used in the study of the consumer basket. This is a Metro Cash&Carry store with an online catalog available on its website.

Income difference - 11 times

We decided to compare prices in Metro with large stores in nine European countries. The rating includes not only the EU countries, but also other states. They were ranked according to the average salary "at hand" (after taxes) - these data were obtained from national statistical departments. The final list included two countries that are not members of the European Union, but are considered one of the richest and most expensive - Switzerland and Norway. Salaries here in terms of European currency are really high - 4422 and 3405 euros per month, respectively (1st and 3rd place among European countries in terms of income "at hand"). The stores studied are Coop and Spar, large European chains present in several countries (Spar also has a franchise in Russia).

Of the EU countries, six states were chosen - Germany, France, Austria, Italy and Spain, traditionally popular among Russians (from 9th to 16th place in terms of salaries - from 2270 to 1749 euros per month), as well as the Czech Republic, which stands somewhat apart - much less wealthy, but close to a resident of Russia both in terms of language and history, and in terms of prosperity (21st place, average income in euro terms - 851). In addition, we included another non-EU country - Serbia, to find out how the openly poor live European countries. Serbia is in 36th place in terms of salary with an average income of 399 euros. This is even less than the official average salary in Russia.

Stores studied: in Germany - Real (a chain owned by Metro, previously present in Russia, later sold to a similar Auchan format), in France - Monoprix (local chain with about 300 stores), in Austria - Spar, in Italy and Spain - French Carrefour (the world's second largest retailer, previously present in Russia), in the Czech Republic - Tesco (the largest British retailer), in Serbia - Maxi (the largest network in Serbia, also operates in Montenegro, Albania and Bulgaria).

Stores studied: in Germany - Real, in France - Monoprix, in Austria - Spar, in Italy and Spain - French Carrefour, in the Czech Republic - Tesco, in Serbia - Maxi. Photo rau.ua

For reference: in Russia, food prices in most cases were quoted from the Metro hypermarket in Kazan. In some cases, the desired product was not available in the selected store - then the prices of other stores had to be taken as a basis.

Russia ranks 32nd in Europe in terms of official wages "on hand" with an indicator of 494 euros (about 34 thousand rubles). Due to the significant wealth stratification of Russians, such an average salary may seem overpriced - nevertheless, we are guided precisely by statistics, without raising the question of the objectivity of this indicator.

Bread and wine, tomatoes and mayonnaise

In order to roughly calculate the cost of the consumer basket, we had to deviate quite a lot from the traditional methodology of Rosstat. The fact is that the Russian department includes products in the list, many of which are quite specific, and it is quite difficult to find them abroad, and in some cases even impossible. In addition, we decided to expand minimal list» goods with some additional products, which in most cases are bought by people, but for some reason are not considered necessary by Rosstat.

The result is a food basket that can be described as a “consumer basket of a Russian emigrant”. The list still contains many products that are traditionally popular in Russia (such as bread, mayonnaise, sour cream and pasta), and our “emigrant index” will primarily characterize the spending of a Russian living abroad.

He will not do without vegetables - cucumbers and tomatoes, cabbage and carrots, onions and bell peppers. Photo businessinsider.com

Of course, it is not necessary to talk about the real correspondence of such a “basket” to human needs, however, according to our calculations, a person can live with such a set of products and even afford some excesses. Nevertheless, our conditional "emigrant" will try to look for the cheapest types for each category of goods.

So, within a month, he left his homeland in search of a better life will eat four types of side dishes: rice, pasta, potatoes (not forgetting about bread, as taught in childhood). He will not do without vegetables - cucumbers and tomatoes, cabbage and carrots, onions and bell peppers. He will also regularly eat rather prosaic fruits - apples, oranges, lemons, bananas and pears.

From meat, a Russian abroad will buy beef and chicken, and sometimes feast on salmon and sausage. He will also need milk, butter, yogurt, cheese, sour cream and eggs. For sweets, in addition to sugar itself, he will have chocolate and cookies. In addition, he will need various grocery products - vegetable oil, salt, tea and coffee, pepper, ketchup and mayonnaise. He will also sometimes buy carbonated drinks, juice and water, and in order not to be completely sad in a foreign land, he will sometimes allow himself to drink wine and beer (the latter definitely needs chips).

Consumer basket of a Russian emigrant

A Russian earns nine times less than a Swiss

As the analysis showed, the level of prices in Europe as a whole corresponds to the average income of the inhabitants of the country. However, this concerns only the distribution of places by the cost of the basket, but not the ratio of the cost of food to the average salary in the country.

by the most expensive countries in terms of monthly cost of products were Norway and Switzerland. Here, a grocery basket will cost 260-270 euros (about 18 thousand rubles). The same basket in Russia will cost only 115 euros (7,800 rubles) - more than a twofold difference. It would seem that this is good, only salaries in Norway are about seven times higher than in Russia, and in Switzerland - almost nine times (the salary of the Swiss is about 300 thousand in terms of rubles). Thanks to this, the average Swiss salary can buy almost 17 such “food baskets”, and in Russia - a little more than four.

Note that the number of baskets per salary in Russia is generally one of the lowest. The result is worse only in Serbia, where, with an average salary of 399 euros (27,000 rubles), the food basket turned out to be somewhat more expensive than in Russia - 130 euros (8,800 rubles). For the average Serb, one salary is enough for only three monthly food baskets.

In general, against the backdrop of low average wages in Russia (not to mention the size of pensions and the minimum wage), the price level in other countries seems to be quite high. For example, almost the same as in Russia, a basket costs in Germany - about 160 euros (10,600 rubles). But Germany ranks ninth in terms of income in Europe with an average salary of 2270 euros (about 150 thousand rubles).

In addition, completely low price for food ended up in Spain - 122 euros (8238 rubles, 400 rubles more expensive than in Russia, and cheaper than Serbia). The average salary here, of course, is not German, but still quite good - 1,750 euros (about 120 thousand rubles). Here, as in Germany, a resident can buy about 14 food packages on an average salary. Finally, the situation with the Czech Republic is interesting - despite the low salary of 851 euros (less than 60 thousand rubles) by European standards, the basket here turned out to be even a little cheaper than in Russia - thus, the prices here will seem comfortable even to a Russian with an average salary .

Lean on the onion, but do not touch the bell pepper

The bulk of food spending in all countries, as can be seen from the chart below, is for meat and fish. In Russia, about 30 euros (2,200 rubles) have to be spent on these products, and, for example, in Switzerland - 130 euros (9 thousand rubles). Inexpensive meat and fish - in Spain, the Czech Republic and Serbia: from 46 to 54 euros (from 3100 to 3700 rubles).

The remaining categories are much cheaper in all countries, and specific expensive types of products vary from country to country. From the graph, for example, you can see that Norway stands out from the rest of the countries in the Drinks category - this is due to expensive alcohol. In Norway, the sale of any alcohol stronger than beer is allowed in stores of only one state network, and the cost of a liter of wine here starts from 11 euros. At the same time, beer, which is sold in conventional stores, although the most expensive in Europe, it still exceeds the European price by two to three times, and not 10, as is the case with wine.

As for prices in Russia, in order to analyze their level, we decided to study not absolute indicators, but the share of prices in Russia from the average price for all analyzed countries. Thus, the average price per kilogram of the product for all countries is 100% here, and the price in a particular country is indicated as a percentage of the average.

More expensive than the European average, only eight products are sold in Russia. Basically, these are goods that are not produced in Russia. The graph shows the top 5 most expensive products in Russia. So, the cost of bell pepper is almost twice the average price. In Russia, it is generally the most expensive of all the countries analyzed, and a comparable price is only in Switzerland, France and Italy. Also in Russia are expensive tomatoes (more expensive only in Switzerland and Italy), yogurt and chocolate (more expensive in Norway and Italy) and wine. The price of wine in Russia is 122% of the average - however, this average also includes the off-scale price in Norway, where the cost is 400% of the average and is due, recall, to the anti-alcohol policy of the state. Rice (by 17%), cheese (by 14%) and coffee (by 9%) are also higher than the European average in Russia.

In the top 5 relatively cheap products, onion takes unconditional first place - its price in Russia is only 6% of the European average. 16% of the average price - for cabbage. About a third of the average price is for potatoes and chicken fillets, while eggs cost 41% of the average price.

Russians get 17 times less wine than Spaniards

It is interesting in this context to look at another proportion - how much the average salary will last if it is fully spent on one of the products in the basket. Realnoe Vremya analyzed this parameter and found out that for a Russian salary, only one type of food can be bought more than in any other European country.

This product turned out to be an onion. Onions in Russia cost only 6% of the average European price (why not an idea for a business?), And with a modest salary of 500 euros, a Russian gets 10.8 tons of this wonderful vegetable. Oddly enough, the Swiss can compete with him - he was very lucky with his salary, and the price of onions is favorable for him - he will be able to buy 6 tons of this vegetable.

There are no other products that a Russian can buy more than other Europeans. The top 5 most affordable products also include cabbage (a Russian can buy 2.9 tons of cabbage, and a resident of Serbia - only 951 kg, although a resident of Norway is lucky again - he can buy 4 tons of this vegetable). Here - chicken fillet (the Russian will get 191 kg, the resident of Serbia - 72 kg, but the Spaniard will be able to buy almost 400 kg). Also in the list of the most affordable products are bananas (a Russian can buy 655 kg, a Serb - 366 kg, but a Norwegian can buy 1.8 tons of this fruit) and eggs (321 kg for Russia, 164 kg for Serbia, but for a resident of Germany gets almost a ton of eggs).

Sad, however, is the situation with the least accessible products for Russians. Immediately 14 goods for the inhabitants of Russia are less accessible than for any other of the countries studied.

The product that is least accessible to Russians is tomatoes. A resident of the country will be able to buy only 127 kg of tomatoes with his salary, but a resident of Austria, for example, can buy 1.3 tons. There are similar problems with bell pepper: a Russian will buy only 81 kg, and there will be nothing left of his salary, while a Norwegian will need to buy more than a ton of this vegetable for this.

There are two more vegetables on the list of the most expensive for Russians - cucumbers and carrots. A resident of Russia will have enough salary for only 400 kg of cucumbers, while a German will get two tons. With carrots, the situation is not so sad - a Russian can buy a whole ton, but a Swiss will have four under the same conditions.

With fruits, the situation is generally simpler, but even here there are forbidden fruits. So, for example, you can afford only 280 kg of lemons (the Swiss will buy 2.6 tons), and 557 kg of apples (the same Swiss will immediately stock up 3.5 tons).

So-so is the situation with wine: a resident of Spain, for example, can buy 2.5 thousand liters of wine with his average salary, and a resident of Russia - only 146 liters. The Russian is generally deprived in this regard - even a Serb with his salary of 400 euros, thanks to relatively inexpensive wine, will get 238 liters, and a Norwegian - thanks to a large salary and despite very expensive alcohol - 300 liters.

And a Russian is unlikely to be able to compensate for the lack of wine with beer: his salary can only buy 385 liters of beer per month (even a Serb can buy 22 bottles more). In this regard, the German is also good - with his good salary and beer at 60 cents per bottle, he can buy 3.9 thousand liters of this alcoholic drink per month (that is, almost 8 thousand bottles, or 390 boxes).

It is interesting that dairy products, bread and beef were on the list of the most inaccessible goods for Russians. Sour cream, for example, a Russian will buy 6.5 times less than a Frenchman, yogurt - 10 times less than a Swiss. A Russian citizen will get five times less bread than a Norwegian, and 3.5 times less beef than an Austrian. The Russians also have a problem with the sweet life: he will get only 60 kg of chocolate. For comparison: a Serbian can buy 91 kg of chocolate, and a Swiss - a whole ton.

Maxim Matveev