Online sales in Romania in H1 2024 were more than 9 percent higher compared to the same period of the previous year, according to a specialist survey released on Wednesday by local SaaS-based e-commerce platform MerchantPro.According to data centralized in the report, the positive dynamics is mainly due to developments in the second quarter, when online sales rose by over 12 percent. In terms of orders placed by customers in the first half of 2024, the growth pace is similar to 2023, at 6.71 percent."Automation and Artificial Intelligence, customer loyalty, the diversification of business models and increased competition are some of the main trends and challenges that characterize the local e-commerce market in the first half of the year. The market development prospects are backed by the real dynamics in the first part of of the year. Romania's eCommerce market continues to grow, fueled by access to digital technology and the increase in the income of the young population and digital natives, but electronic commerce has reached the age of maturity. Year-to-year growth is moderate and the competition is getting fiercer, especially from strong international competitors, both brands from the EU or, as in the last 12 months, non-EU players such as Shein or Temu, whose global rise is gaining momentum," experts estimate.
The number of people in Romania at risk of poverty stood at 3.59 million people in 2024, 375,000 fewer than in 2023, representing a 9.4% decrease, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics, or INS. Despite the improvement, nearly one in five Romanians was affected by poverty last year. According to INS, 19% […]
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Cluj-Napoca carried out multiple searches on Tuesday, July 1, at the Sibiu International Airport and the Sibiu County Council as part of an investigation into suspected fraud involving a EUR 54 million EU-funded infrastructure project. A total of 24 locations were searched across Bucharest, Brașov, and Sibiu county, […]
A Romanian taxi driver who scammed 90-year-old Nigerian Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka was detained by police on Sunday, June 29, according to media reports. On Friday, June 27, the venerable Nigerian arrived at Bucharest's Otopeni Airport. He got into a taxi and asked to be taken to a hotel downtown. At the destination, the […]
Costin Șerban, a Romanian entrepreneur, is digitalizing the construction sector in the United Kingdom with an ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution developed over 12 years and an investment of GBP 1.6 million (EUR 1.86 million). Șerban’s cloud-based ERP platform is called Abilo, was developed by the Romanian IT company Obi Systems, and is dedicated to […]
Border checks between Bulgaria and Romania have officially been lifted on July 1, as part of the implementation of the Schengen Agreement. The lifting marks the end of the transitional period of heightened control at the internal border, which had remained in place for six months following their accession to the Schengen area by land […]
Remus Vulpescu became CEO of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) on Tuesday, July 1, taking over from Adrian Tănase as the stock exchange grapples with a market dominated by government bonds. Vulpescu, 53, is a graduate in political and legal sciences from the University of Bucharest and holder of an EMBA obtained in 2017. He […]
