According to Petrostat, retail turnover in the first half of 2008 was 268.4 billion rubles, which is 14.8% higher than the same period in 2007. But the growth rate of the industry has noticeably slowed. In the first half of last year, Petersburgers spent 206.1 billion rubles, which was 19.3% higher than the 2006 figure.

The boom in consumer demand is dying down, expenses are being redistributed, people have started spending more on leisure and entertainment, explains Alexey Kramarev, CEO of the Trading Solutions company. In his opinion, the rate of turnover growth will only decrease in the future.

KERPiT predicts that in 2011 the growth will be 15%. In 2008, the turnover is expected to be 571.3 billion rubles, and in 2011 this figure will almost double to 1005.4 billion rubles, which is practically the same as the growth over the past four years (from 2004 to 2007, the turnover increased from 215.9 billion rubles to 441.1 billion rubles).

The turnover of retail chains continues to grow faster than the market. Metrika increased its turnover in the first half of 2008 by 35% compared to the same period in 2007, said Alexey Iovlev, a member of the board of directors of the SBR corporation (which manages the chain of eight Metrika building materials hypermarkets). Last year, the activity was aimed at opening new stores, the chain doubled in size, now we are focused on operational activities and sales, he explains.

Dixy's sales in the first half of 2008 amounted to $964 million, which is about 50% higher than the same figure for 2007, said the company's CEO, Vitaly Klyuchnikov. In St. Petersburg, the growth, according to his estimates, was also 50%. Klyuchnikov explains this by working on the store format and expanding the product range. In his opinion, the increase in food prices had an indirect effect.

According to Petrostat, food products accounted for 38% of the retail turnover in June 2008, while non-food products accounted for 62% (a year earlier, 36% and 64%, respectively). Prices for food products have grown by an average of 20–30% in six months, Kramarev recalls. According to him, this was the main reason for the redistribution of shares in favor of the food segment. Prices are rising and people are forced to focus on everyday expenses, Klyuchnikov notes.

Food is more important than building materials