The retail market in Kazakhstan is undergoing a digital transformation: banking superapps have turned into massive storefronts where buying sneakers or a jacket happens in a couple of clicks. Today, a smartphone replaces a trip to the mall, offering a choice from the local Kaspi Magazin to global platforms like Pinduoduo and Wildberries. However, shopping is an emotional process where payment convenience often collides with the barriers of fitting, returning, and waiting for parcels.
What is this research about?
In this study, we conducted in-depth interviews with Kazakhstanis to explore their experience interacting with banking ecosystems.
In this article, we analyze buying goods on marketplaces:
- How do different segments choose between local convenience and the low prices of foreign platforms?
- What tools do they use to search for items and gifts?
- What stops them from shopping online more actively?
Below is a detailed breakdown of five archetypes defining the digital shopping landscape in Kazakhstan.
😐 Normies
For them, a banking app is basic infrastructure that should cover all needs in one click. They are not inclined to deep market analysis and choose Kaspi Magazin for its familiar interface and the lack of need to link a card again.
Apparel shopping (Score: 8/10)
The service fully meets their demand for speed. They value delivery predictability and the transparency of the payment process within a familiar app.
Quote: "It's easier in Kaspi because the card is already linked. I don't see the point in looking for something else" (Lina).
Behavior: They often order items in the evening or on the go, using shopping as a way to quickly close a household task (buy a gift, update basic clothing). They rarely use complex filters, trusting the top search results.
Blockers and barriers
- Lack of fitting experience: The main barrier is the reluctance to deal with returns if an item doesn't fit. It's easier not to buy online at all than to go through the return shipping procedure.
- Scarcity of visual content: If a product card has few photos or no video, the normie leaves, as they do not want to spend time guessing what the item looks like in reality.
- Assortment loss: Kaspi's convenience loses out to the huge selection and low prices of Pinduoduo, Ozon, or WB, which forces them to leave the ecosystem for separate apps.
🤑 Pragmatists
Rational optimizers who view shopping as a hunt for the best price. They are masters of "digital arbitrage": comparing Kaspi, Ozon, Wildberries, and Chinese platforms to squeeze maximum value out of every purchase.
Apparel shopping (Score: 7/10)
They use ecosystems to search for promotions and installment plans, but easily leave for external platforms like Pinduoduo if the price difference is significant.
Quote: "Kaspi has the most developed shop, but Pinduoduo is always cheaper. If it's not urgent, I'll order there" (Igor).
Behavior: They might use a banking app as a storefront for ideas, but will make the final purchase where the cashback is higher or a seasonal sale is active. They often use installments as financial leverage, even if they have the full amount.
Blockers and barriers
- Logistical "black box": Uncertainty of timelines when ordering from China and the lack of precise tracking when a purchase "hangs" at the border deprive them of control over the process.
- Paid return barrier: Irritation from having to pay to return a defective or unsuitable item (a Wildberries problem), which is perceived as a "tax on the seller's mistake."
- Secondary offering: A banking marketplace is perceived as "second-rate" if it does not provide a clear and instant advantage in price or delivery speed compared to global players.
🥸 Olds
Users with low digital engagement who value simplicity and fear making mistakes. For them, online shopping is full of pitfalls: from the wrong size to the complexity of placing an order.
Apparel shopping (Score: 4/10)
Weak coverage. They often choose Wildberries simply because they registered there once and are afraid to try new platforms due to the fear of repeated registrations.
Quote: "Wildberries — there are a lot of features there that I don't use. It's easier for me to choose the most convenient option and even overpay for home delivery" (Sevara).
Behavior: They use apps mainly to search for specific items that are hard to find in convenience stores. They often need help from relatives to place an order or link a card.
Blockers and barriers
- "Size roulette": The fear of ordering clothes that won't fit their body type. The lack of a clear and unified size chart makes purchasing too risky.
- Interface labyrinth: Too many "features," promotions, and push notifications inside the marketplace scare them. They need a single "Buy" button without offers for installments and additional packages.
- Technical heaviness: Slow loading of store sections in superapps (Freedom/BCC) and a lack of smartphone memory force them to delete large marketplace apps.
🧐 The Financially Literate
For them, shopping is a planned expense category. They value the ability to export data and transaction transparency, but suffer from analytical chaos when shopping across different platforms.
Apparel shopping (Score: 6/10)
The infrastructure is convenient for large purchases (electronics, expensive clothing) thanks to installments, but minor shopping turns into an analytical nightmare.
Quote: "In Kaspi and Halyk, you can extract data to compare expenses, but only by downloading the report manually. It's inconvenient" (Aibek).
Behavior: They often use visual scrolling of marketplaces as an alternative to social networks, saving items to "favorites" to buy them during promotions or upon reaching a financial goal.
Blockers and barriers
- Lack of a consolidated statement: The main blocker is the inability to automatically gather spending from Ozon, WB, and Kaspi into a single "Clothing" category. Data fragmentation forces them to keep records manually.
- Opaque installment terms: If the interface does not make it clear whether there are hidden overpayments or insurance when buying an item on credit, the financially literate user will abandon the deal due to a feeling of losing control.
- Moderation deficit: The presence of sellers with strange prices and sudden order cancellations cause distrust in the quality of the bank's platform control.
😡 The Burned
People with negative experiences that they project onto all future purchases. For them, any problem — from slow delivery to a complicated return — is a reason to abandon online shopping.
Apparel shopping (Score: 5/10)
They use only verified channels and always expect a catch. They often prefer offline shopping, where the item can be touched and taken immediately.
Quote: "I don't use Wildberries — there are always some fines, and returns are hard to do. Little trust" (Samat).
Behavior: They buy only what they are 100% sure of (for example, goods from familiar brands). They never pay for large purchases in advance if there is an option to pay upon receipt or check at a pickup point.
Blockers and barriers
- "Complicated return" barrier: The key blocker is the negative experience of fighting for their money after returning an item. If the procedure is not transparent and automated, they go offline.
- Fear of fakes and replicas: Distrust in the quality of goods on marketplaces. If the bank does not act as a guarantor of authenticity (as is the case with official stores within the ecosystem), the "burned" user will not risk a large sum.
- Reputational trigger: A persistent association of the bank's store with the organization's "dark past" (e.g., aggressive micro-lending), which causes an emotional rejection of the service.
Final summary
Apparel shopping in Kazakhstan has outgrown the stage of simply having goods available. Now it is a battle for post-purchase service. The main insight of the research: loyalty to a banking ecosystem in this category rests on the "ease of parting with the item."
Normies and Olds lack confidence that an item will fit, while Pragmatists and the Financially Literate lack price transparency and data cleanliness. The ecosystem that makes the fitting and return procedure as seamless as the payment itself, and can consolidate fragmented purchases across different marketplaces into a clear financial picture for the user, will win.
