“I think we should gradually replace this lockdown with steps so as to restart the economy. The healthcare crisis should be the priority, but it must carefully considered what steps should be taken and where relaxation should occur, in what areas, so things can restart,” said Iulian Stanciu, CEO and shareholder of eMAG, the largest online retailer in Romania and one of the most powerful in the region, on ZF Live.
“My fear has to do with how well the government can handle the two crises – the healthcare crisis and the economic crisis. We are neither Germany, nor the US, nor the UK, we are a relatively young country, with systems still under construction. We may get out of this crisis really divided, with a seriously affected central government, with a much-weakened capacity to react to all the issues that may come.”
The strategy of the authorities to overcome the crisis and relaunch the economy should take into account the sectors that will be able to grow locally and absorb workforce, Stanciu believes.
“I think we should see what strategic sectors were affected and should be helped in order to exit the crisis and relaunch the economy. We also look at the future a little, what are the businesses that can hire, can employ people and have the prospects to grow nationally and internationally. Everything that has to do with the digital economy, software, productivity tools, online commerce, they will all grow a lot. Travel is strategic, agriculture will have to grow.”
eMAG, a group with more than RON5 billion (over EUR1 billion) revenue in the region in 2019, has seen a surge in sales now that people are resorting to online orders en-masse, due to the social distancing rules that prevent them from leaving their homes.
“We’ve seen more than 30% rise in direct sales compared with an average period and a more than 40% rise in marketplace sales.”
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)