Ooni Koda
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Newsfeed
  4. /
  5. eCommerce Academy: Social Media, the main driver of...

eCommerce Academy: Social Media, the main driver of traffic for 89% of the online stores in CEE in 2023; PPC declines while SEO and Influencer relations grow

December 22, 2023

Social Media remained the main driver of traffic for 89% of the online stores in CEE in 2023, relatively stable on the year, while PPC declines from 43% to 37%, according to a study co-developed by Mediapost Hit Mail Bulgaria and partners, including eCommerce Academy.
Meanwhile the contribution to the overall traffic of the eCommerce stores in the region grows for both SEO, from 28% last year to 34%, and Influencer relations, from 11% to 15% at end-2023.
“Social media and PPC still remain the main channels to drive traffic to the online stores but, as within any line of business, the size of the allocated budget determines the impact in the overall traffic. Other channels, like offline events, influencer relations, banners and affiliates are starting to close the gap and grow in terms of relevance. Traffic, sales, trends and much more insights will be available within the largest regional industry event we will be hosting in Sofia, next year – the Balkan eCommerce Summit,” said Nikola Ilchev, eCommerce Academy and Balkan eCommerce Summit founder.
While in terms of attracting traffic the main drivers remained relatively stable in 2023, cross-border appeal is growing for the eCommerce businesses. In 2023, half of the online businesses in the region still did not sell cross-border, but 32% planned to start – slightly up from the 30% who stated their willingness to go international in the previous year.
If 7% of the eCommerce businesses part of the study were already selling their products and services abroad in Romania, 7% more of the respondents claim they intend to start selling internationally, to Romania, as well. The main challenge for successful cross-border sales remained, in 2023 as well, the courier delivery service, for a third of the respondents.
eCommerce Academy is a community of e-merchants, online stores service providers and experts in eCommerce, founded in Bulgaria in 2016. Among various industry relevant events, eCommerce Academy will hold, for the third consecutive year, the Balkan eCommerce Summit in Sofia, on April 4-5, 2023. More information about the event is available at balkanecommerce.com.

The information provided by KomuniK

Read in full - click here
Number of Romanians at risk of poverty drops by 375,000 in 2024

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% […]

EPPO investigates EUR 54 mln Sibiu airport project, targets possible tender fraud

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, […]

Bucharest taxi driver who scammed Nobel Prize laureate detained by police

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 […]

Romanian entrepreneur digitalizes UK construction sector with ERP solution

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 officially removed as of July 1

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 takes over from Adrian Tănase as CEO of Bucharest Stock Exchange

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 […]