Premium
Romania's online commerce will increase by at least 15 percent this year, and card payments will tick up 39 percent, including in rural areas, shows a survey by VTEX Romania, the local developer of an integrated commerce and marketplace solution.
The number of online stores with over one thousand orders per day is expected to triple in the next three years, with the categories home & deco, pharma and fashion seeing the largest increases in 2021.
"There are currently maximum 100 online stores in the local market that receive over 1,000 orders per day, but in the next 3 years their number will triple against the background of five digital transformation trends that will define the local online commerce. We will see a greater acceleration and a strong increase in investments by established players in digitization, technology and services. The e-commerce market is still at the beginning, as well as services and the shift towards innovation or offline experiences, so there is a huge potential to tap into. In the medium term, the market will settle and focus around marketplaces, as the global trend is to consolidate the shopping cart in one place. The consumers will have preferred shopping destinations and will want to make all their purchases in one place," explains VTEX leader of expansion for Eastern Europe Cristi Movila.
In the company's vision, retailers and malls will set their sights on online and omnichannel business models to support the pandemic-affected trade and ensure the sector's survival. An example in this sense is Veranda Shop Online which aims to "attract at least 70 tenants on the platform, who are not present in the physical mall, from the entrepreneurial area and the niche, non-mass market products".
In terms of payments, card and mobile shopping operations will witness an increase. The growing coverage of internet services will prompt a 33 percent jump in traffic from networked computers and a 12 percent advance for mobile devices.
Moreover, PayU data shows an increase in the use of card payments, along with the introduction of additional security measures under the EU's Payment Services Directive, along with other solutions such as the "instant money back" option within 30 minutes of confirming the return or the one-click secure payment option, which have increased confidence in this secure payment method.
"The online payment penetration rate has grown 50 percent to 36 percent in 2020, with a peak of over 50 percent reported by some merchants. For 2021 we estimate a share of 39 percent. People now spend a lot of time online, and online shopping is more convenient. Some users have moved from crowded cities to rural areas, therefore we expect to see an increase in card payments, including in rural areas," said Elena Gheorghe, PayU Romania's country manager.
Vtex Romania's survey shows that, in terms of digitization, companies will invest in the integration of AI operations management solutions which allow the optimization of costs and logistics efforts. "In practice, when we applied AI models, we noticed sales increases, because customers more easily reached products that convinced them, generating a rise in the conversion rate of recommended products: for products in the Fashion range growth as high as 250 percent was noticeable, or an overall conversion above 2 percent for cosmetics," says Zitec CEO and co-founder Alexandru Lapusan.
Social networks will also play an important role in the development of online business. Experts in the field consider that this shopping method will be more valuable especially for narrow niche products.
Last but not least, the home & deco, pharma and fashion segments will be the stars of 2021, and traders will partner in collaborative trading platforms in order to cover a wider range of needs and services.
VTEX is the world's first and only fully integrated commerce, marketplace and order management system solution that unifies user experiences across all channels into a single, comprehensive solution for medium and large companies.
International brands, including Sony, Walmart, Whirlpool, Coca-Cola, Stanley Black & Decker, Samsung, Carrefour and Nestle, along with more than 3,000 active customers in 50 countries are confident that the integrated business solution will accelerate and ensure the transformation of their trade.
