E-commerce Expansion: Anticipated Market Value Surpassing EURO 8 Billion by 2025 (MerchantPro Prediction)
In a press release, MerchantPro, a project of ShopMania Net, has unveiled the findings of its eCommerce Insights 2025 report. The report provides an annual snapshot of the Romanian eCommerce market, offering insights into context, trends, predictions, and opinions from industry leaders.
The report reveals that international merchants have a significant impact on the Romanian eCommerce market, with 64% of Romanians shopping from international sites mainly for lower prices. The Beauty and Personal Care category has surpassed the popularity of the Fashion segment, being preferred for online purchases by 64% of the public.
Digital payments are gaining ground, with a third of 2024 transactions paid by card. The report highlights that experienced online customers in Romania value accessibility, local language support, integrated local payment and shipping methods, and advanced customer experience features enabled by AI. These customers expect seamless checkout flows and tailored marketing adapted for virtual assistants, reflecting a mature eCommerce market focused on convenience and personalization.
Accessibility is a mandatory condition for most Romanian online stores, emphasizing usability for diverse customers, including those with different capabilities. Local platforms like MerchantPro and Gomag succeed partly because they offer Romanian-language interfaces and local payment/shipping integrations, appealing to experienced users who prefer localized solutions.
The evolving customer experience incorporates AI-powered tools to adapt content and marketing strategies for attracting traffic through virtual assistants, which experienced users find beneficial. Monitoring checkout configurations and optimizing the customer journey are important to cater to these sophisticated customers, who expect smooth and reliable online shopping experiences.
The eCommerce market in Romania showed high resilience and a strong ability to adapt, with an 8% growth in 2024. The market value reached around 7.7 billion euros in 2024 and is expected to exceed 8 billion euros in 2025. Generation Z is redefining online commerce, preferring mobile platforms, video content, and sustainability.
Medium-large companies (50-249 employees) in the Romanian eCommerce market recorded an accelerated 31.6% increase in revenue. Large companies in the Romanian eCommerce market, despite representing only 0.025%, generate a third of the market revenues. Consumers are more demanding and selective, with price, fast delivery, and flexibility in returns becoming decisive factors in online purchases.
98.3% of eCommerce companies in Romania are small and generate only 41% of the sector's revenue. Consumers choose an online store based on criteria such as free shipping, detailed product descriptions, cost transparency, free returns, and flexible options. The average value of online purchases made by a customer in 2024 was approximately €857. Almost half (47%) of Romanians shop from international sites for products unavailable in local stores.
More and more consumers choose to buy from large marketplaces. While 55% of Romanians bought online at least once in 2024, rural buyers fuel growth through a higher adoption rate than in urban areas. Representatives of major players in eCommerce, such as Google, Visa, FAN Courier, PayU GPO, Netopia, GPeC, ARMO, MTH Digital, The Marketer, DHL International, Innoship, RTB House, Aqurate, or Compari.ro, have noted trends such as AI integration, increased external competition, development of instant payments, evolution of marketing channels, market consolidation, increased adoption of sustainability practices, and the rise of international deliveries and locker-based shipping.
MerchantPro has launched the second edition of the eCommerce Insights report, analyzing the Romanian online commerce market. The MerchantPro platform has over 20 years of market experience and has strengthened its presence in the domestic and international markets, with over 2000 active stores in Romania and a continuously growing number in the Southeastern European market.
- The report indicates that technology, specifically AI-powered tools, plays a crucial role in the Romanian eCommerce market, helping businesses adapt content and marketing strategies for virtual assistants, optimize the customer journey, and cater to sophisticated online customers.
- The findings of the eCommerce Insights 2025 report, presented by MerchantPro, suggest that the integration of technology in business operations, such as local payment systems and AI-enabled customer experience features, is key to gaining the favor of experienced eCommerce customers in Romania.
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