Report: In 2023, e-commerce sales increased below the inflation rate, by only 3%

Fueled by access to digitalization and the increasing income of the young population and digital natives, the e-commerce market in Romania is expected to maintain its upward growth trend in 2024. However, it faces ongoing challenges driven by the local and regional socio-economic context, as indicated by the eCommerce Insights 2024 report conducted by MerchantPro, the local SaaS solutions platform for e-commerce.

“Since the pandemic began, we have been periodically analyzing the dynamics of the e-commerce sector in Romania. The market has experienced exponential growth in recent years, reaching maturity at an accelerated pace. Players in the Romanian e-commerce sector have demonstrated resilience, adaptability, and remarkable innovation. In addition to the real-time analysis based on data from active stores on our platform, the analysis presented in this report provides an overview of the online commerce market in Romania, incorporating data from a multitude of relevant sources and emphasizing emerging trends. Automations, the growth of mobile commerce and digital payments, AI and customization solutions, marketing trends, and the future of the Romanian market are described and analyzed, including insights from industry leaders,” stated Arthur Rădulescu, CEO of MerchantPro.

MerchantPro Compass: Real-time analysis of local stores reveals an average sales growth of only 3% in 2023. Children’s articles identified as the most dynamic market segment in 2023.

The analysis conducted by MerchantPro, based on data recorded from active online stores in both 2023 and 2022, reveals a sales growth of only 3% compared to the same period last year. In terms of the number of orders placed by customers this year, the growth remains moderate (+5.5%).

MerchantPro’s analyzed data identifies Children’s Articles as the most dynamic market segment, with the number of orders placed increasing by over 20%. For the first time in the last 3 years, the Fashion segment records contraction, with a decrease of -10% in the number of transactions.

Due to inflation and decrease in purchasing power, the average order value recorded by stores on the MerchantPro platform in 2023 was around 54 Euros, representing a 2.5% decrease compared to 2022 when the recorded level was 55.5 EUR.

“If we look at the budget allocated to online purchases, it has consistently increased, practically doubling its value in 2023 compared to 2018. On a market level, we are talking about an average expenditure of approximately 584 euros per buyer in 2023. However, the increased inflation has also affected purchasing power, leading to a change in buying behaviour. This has resulted in a greater demand for affordable products, promotions, and flexible payment options such as instalment payments. Buy Now Pay Later is starting to gain serious ground in Romania as an emerging payment option,” adds Arthur Rădulescu.

Although there was a +27% increase in the number of transactions in the first quarter of 2023, the pace slowed down to 5.8% in the second quarter, followed by two consecutive quarters with declines compared to equivalent periods in 2022. The third quarter recorded a -1% decrease, and in the traditionally strongest quarter of the year, the fourth quarter, the decline in the number of orders was -3.8%. Days with discounts and special offers during Black Friday week saw a growth of +10%, but the dynamics during the discount period couldn’t sustain a quarter-over-quarter increase.

1 out of 2 Romanians made online purchases in 2023

The e-commerce market in Romania continues to grow, fuelled by access to digitalization and the increasing income of the young population and digital natives. The number of Romanians making online purchases reached 10.2 million in 2023. While the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the transition to online commerce and the exponential growth of online sales in Romania, the conflict in Ukraine brought logistical and supply challenges for commerce, as well as the onset of a more cautious consumer purchasing behaviour.

According to Statista, online commerce represents 14% of the total retail trade value in Romania, and the estimated value of the local e-commerce market is expected to reach 7.3 billion EUR in 2024. Price remains the most important criterion in choosing an online merchant (45%), followed by special offers (36%), delivery policy (34%), and easy checkout (29%).

Millennials and Generation X – the most active online shoppers

According to the analysis conducted by MerchantPro, the age group of 35-44 years old holds the largest share in e-commerce usage, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total. The next group, 25-34 years old, presents a close proportion, at 23.82%.

The 45-54 age group is not far behind, contributing 23.52%. On the other hand, young adults aged 18-24 and individuals between 55-64 years old are less active in e-commerce, collectively representing less than 28%.

Major trends influencing the market and predictions for 2024

The local eCommerce market has reached maturity. Year-on-year growth is moderate, and competition is steadily increasing, especially from strong international competitors, particularly brands from the EU or, more recently, players from non-EU regions such as Shein or Temu, whose global rise is accelerating. In this context, merchants need to adopt an agile approach, leverage new technologies such as automation, AI, and personalization solutions, and expand their operations both horizontally and with new verticals.

Simultaneously, internal operations optimization must remain a focus to support long-term strategic development.

Trends shaping the local market, along with predictions and insights for 2024 in Romania from industry leaders, are included in the eCommerce Insights 2024 report by MerchantPro.

“The big winners in online retail this year will be those who have the courage to invest in automations and innovations that boost their performance and optimize both their platform and internal workflows. While last year merchants analyzed, now is the time to act. This is the year to automate and integrate solutions that support their dynamics. Those who do not move agilely enough this year are likely to lose significant ground and, at best, experience modest growth“, believes Arthur Rădulescu, CEO and founder of MerchantPro.

The need for agility and rapid adaptability has generated increased interest in SaaS (Software as a Service) eCommerce solutions, at the expense of open-source solutions, which have decreased in popularity by 25%.

“The investments of nearly 1 million euros made in the last two years in the MerchantPro platform aimed to address common issues faced by merchants, such as the lack of autonomy and flexibility in technical solutions. The new sets of functionalities we launched for both front end and back end were designed to provide more independence to entrepreneurs and specialists, including a series of quick integrations for automation, customization, and operations optimization solutions. These aspects are crucial for differentiation between profit and resilience or failure. Merchants using our platform appreciate these features, as evidenced by the increased adoption of these functionalities,” adds Arthur Rădulescu.

The eCommerce Insights 2024 report, an in-depth analysis of the eCommerce market at the beginning of the year, with context and trend analysis, predictions and industry leader opinions can be downloaded at

https://www.merchantpro.ro/whitepapers/raport-ecommerce-insights-2024

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