Double-digit online growth in Romania continues

These data were published by Gala Premiilor eCommerce (GPeC), a Romanian organizer of ecommerce events. The organisation also hands out ecommerce awards. At an ecommerce summit in Bucharest, organized with local marketplace eMAG, data about ecommerce in Romania were published.

Annual growth rate over 10%

Online product spending stood at 6.3 billion euros in 2022, 7.0 billion euros in 2023, and 7.7 billion euros last year, reflecting an annual growth rate of over 10 percent. Online spending on services is rising even more sharply. According to GPeC, Romanians now spend 11 percent of their budget online. “From this perspective, there is still room for growth”, said Andrei Radu, founder and director of GPeC.

Investments

The market is expected to grow by double-digit percentages again this year, reports business newspaper Ziarul Financiar from the conference. eMAG Group anticipates 10 percent growth, driven in part by recent investments and improvements in the market. Delivery capacity has been enhanced, including in rural areas, and Romanian shoppers now have more payment options, which they have eagerly adopted. The market leader plans to make new investments, hire additional staff, and focus on AI. eMAG’s main goal is to outpace market growth, a feat it achieved last year.

“Our main objective is speed – how fast we can exceed the 10% benchmark estimated for the e-commerce sector, with the help of technology, artificial intelligence, and the experience our team has gained over time. If you look at how the three countries performed in 2024, all of them saw double-digit increases in the minimum wage. This was one of the key drivers behind the growth in e-commerce. What’s different is that Romania saw the largest increase. We have a 24% rise in the minimum wage, which translated into growth, especially in the non-food retail sector. This means that consumers in Romania were buying products not necessarily driven by urgent needs – not items to feed their families – but also products they simply wanted, that weren’t essential. In the other countries, where the standard of living and the minimum wage are slightly lower than in Romania, the trend was different. For instance, in Bulgaria, there was a stronger focus on food-related purchases, and the same applied in Hungary. Both countries recorded slightly lower overall growth compared to Romania”,

said Irina Pencea, general manager of eMAG Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

Trendyol

Trendyol, a major ecommerce player from Turkey, also has big plans for the Romanian ecommerce market. The company has recently opened a regional logistics center near Bucharest. This new hub aims to serve all of Southeastern Europe and will employ 250 people once fully operational later this year. According to the company, the logistics center is expected to handle at least 2.5 million deliveries per year.