According to calculations prepared by ARMO, GPeC and other key players in the e-commerce, the Romanian e-commerce sector reached the €6.2 billion threshold by the end of 2021, up by around 10% compared to 2020, when the value of online commerce was estimated at €5.6 billion.
The growth was slightly below initial forecasts, which had expected a 15 percentage point increase and €6.5 billion in online sales by the end of the year. One of the reasons for the slower than originally estimated growth was that most global manufacturers affected by the pandemic had low stock levels and consequent supply chain difficulties. And the rise in energy prices towards the end of 2021 had a negative impact on the consumer durables market. Another interesting factor is that the Romanian e-commerce sector has entered a consolidation phase, which was expected in 2020 but delayed by the pandemic, thanks to the accelerating growth of online orders (30% growth in 2020 compared to 2019). This phase of consolidation and slow growth continued in 2022.
The €6.2 billion figure for the Romanian e-commerce sector in 2021 refers to all transactions generated from Romania to both domestic retailers and online stores outside the country's borders, and strictly refers to the e-commerce segment, i.e. physical (tangible) products purchased online. This figure does not include services, utility bills, digital content or airline tickets, holidays and travel, hotel reservations, tickets for performances or events, etc.
Romania in the European context: internet users and online shoppers
According to the latest report published by Eurostat in January 2022, 88% of Romanians used the internet at least once in 2021, up from 85% in 2020.
44% of internet users shopped online at least once in 2021, down 1% from 2020, but - overall - the number of online shoppers has increased, given the growth in the number of internet users. Among EU countries, Romania is followed only by Bulgaria, where 42% of all internet users shop online.
If we look at the total Romanian population aged 16-74 (not just internet users), 38% shopped online in 2021, significantly higher than the 23% in 2019 before the pandemic, showing the impact of the health crisis on the accelerated growth of the e-commerce sector.
However, Romania is at the bottom of the ranking compared to the European average, with 66% of the population (16-74 year olds) shopping online in 2021, showing that
the e-commerce sector in Romania has great growth potential in the coming years.
In the 16-74 age group, the top rankings are:
Norway (92% of the population will have made at least one online purchase in 2021)
Denmark (91%)
The Netherlands (89%)
Sweden, Ireland (87%)
Iceland (85%) (87%)
E-commerce in Romania 2021 - Average transaction value on desktop and mobile devices
According to 2Performant statistics, the average value of online transactions increased slightly in 2021 compared to 2020 for both desktop and mobile purchases.
Romanians will spend an average of €66.67 on online desktop purchases in 2021, compared to €61.5 in 2020.
For mobile transactions, the average basket value was €46.47 in 2021, compared to €43.5 in 2020. (The above averages exclude VAT and are based on an average annual exchange rate of €1 = RON 4.9204 for 2021.)
The average order on desktop is still higher than on mobile, indicating that Romanians are making more important purchases on desktop.
How much do Romanians spend on different product categories?
In general, average orders increased in most product categories, except for toys and children's products and pharmaceuticals, where there was a very slight decrease in both desktop and mobile devices.
In all product categories, the average order is higher when the transaction is made on a desktop than on a tablet or mobile device.
According to 2Performant's statistics, the top 3 categories in terms of number of transactions that experienced significant growth in 2021 compared to 2020 were:
Fashion - 26% increase compared to the previous year, with the majority of transactions taking place on mobile.
Books, Movies and Music - 25% increase, with transactions split evenly between desktop and mobile devices.
Beauty - 11% increase
Although the average value of transactions on mobile is lower than on desktop, the number of online orders placed from mobile is significantly higher than on desktop, and the gap has widened further in 2021 compared to 2020.
Thus 69.8% of all transactions were made from mobile, compared to 65.6% in 2020. The 30.2% difference represents transactions made from desktops.
Generally speaking, where detailed documentation of product specifications is required, or where product prices are higher, or where there are several similar products to compare, the share of mobile transactions tends to decrease in favour of desktop.
On the other hand, when it comes to impulse purchases, which do not necessarily require detailed product research or a long time to make a purchase decision, Romanians are more likely to buy online from their mobile phones.
Mobile devices generate 75.5% of online shop sales in Romania, compared to 71.9% in 2020. For existing online shops surveyed by the GPeC, mobile-generated traffic is as high as 85%.
And in terms of value, mobile also outperforms desktop: 61.7% of the value of online transactions in Romanian e-commerce comes from mobile transactions and only 38.3% from desktop, despite the fact that the average value of transactions is lower on mobile than on desktop. This is an increase compared to 2020, when 57.4% of the value of e-commerce transactions came from mobile.
Average conversion rate above the 2% threshold
For online stores in the 2Performant network, the average conversion rate is higher on desktop than on mobile, but will increase on both device types in 2021:
Desktop - from 2.26% in 2020 to 2.5% in 2021
Mobile - from 1.68% in 2020 to 1.88% in 2021.
For online stores in the 2Performant network, averaging the desktop and mobile conversion rates would result in an average conversion rate of 2.19%.
However, it is important to add that the average conversion rate can vary significantly both upwards and downwards depending on a number of factors such as (but not limited to): the awareness of the online store, the vertical to which it belongs, the loyalty programmes, the marketing campaigns launched by the online store, the retention campaigns or the abandoned cart return campaigns, etc.
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Source: https://www.gpec.ro/
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