Romania also ranks third in the CEE by sales volume in EU Member States, after Poland and the Czech Republic. Romania’s e-commerce sector dominates the Eastern European market, generating almost 60% of the region’s sales, with an estimated turnover of EUR9.95 billion in 2023, out of a total of EUR17.6 billion.
“The report confirms Romania’s status as a regional ecommerce hub, the ecosystem developed at national level being a model of innovation and investment in the digital economy. This position allows us to measure our strengths with European economies much more advanced in the digital transformation process and, at the same time, to offer high quality services to consumers. Precisely because they have the products or services they want just a click away, e-commerce today gives Romanians access to top-notch services, simplifying the process of purchase, delivery and return. We can see that Romanians want as wide a choice of products as possible and are looking for the tangible benefits of this sector, namely saving time and money. This is why we are confident that the e-commerce sector in Romania will continue to have a positive dynamic in the coming years”, said Cristian Pelivan, Executive Director of the Romanian Association of Online Shops (ARMO).
The European E-commerce 2023 report shows that 94% of Romanian shoppers prefer to order online from Romanian stores, while 21% have also ordered from foreign stores. At the European level, the most ordered products are clothes, shoes and clothing accessories (68% of products ordered online), followed by books, CDs, DVDs (34%), restaurant deliveries (30%) and cosmetics or beauty products (27%).
The European E-commerce 2023 report covers 37 countries across the European continent, revealing data-driven insights into the current and projected size of their digital markets and consumer trends in internet usage and online shopping. The report includes the latest data and trends related to internet penetration, e-shopper penetration and B2C e-commerce turnover for all 37 countries, with an additional focused look at data for the EU-27. It also compares trends affecting the sector in 2022 and 2021.
ARMO said that this is the first edition of the European E-Commerce Report in which Romania is included with complete data on revenues from online sales of goods and services. Estimates indicate a total EUR9.2 billion for 2022 and EUR9.95 billion for 2023. Data included in the previous editions of the report only referred to online sales of goods. This data highlights the growth and diversification of the Romanian e-commerce sector, providing a more complete picture of its impact on the national economy.
The conclusions of the European E-commerce 2023 report will be discussed on Wednesday (October 18, 2023), during the event that the Romanian Association of Online Shops is organizing on the occasion of the National E-commerce Day.