‘The electronic goods and home appliances market shrank rather considerably in the year 2009. Some analysts say it might have decreased by as much as 40%. Naturally, M.Video chain felt this trend as well. Our sales dropped by 10% to 13%, with the sales figures for the Urals looking worse than those for Russia on average,’ M.Video electronic goods chain store’s Store Manager in the Urals Igor Gusak said at a press lunch in Yekaterinburg.

‘On the other hand, the recession made many people think of our products as a possible source of investment. They were afraid of losing their savings and so we sold more computers, especially laptops and netbooks,’ he explained.

‘As for the white goods segment, the most popular models are hi-tech ones that let a customer reduce his or her housing bills. If the customers have to choose between a more expensive, yet energy-efficient make and a cheaper version, they will go for the former,’ Gusak observed.