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Trade: ARMO: e-commerce reaches 3.6 billion euro in 2018
Romania's online trade increased by 30 percent in 2018 compared to last year, up to 3.6 billion euro, while the number of active stores on this segment doubled up to 14,000, Romanian Online Shops Association (ARMO) informs in a release published on Tuesday.
In this context, 8.28 million Romanians made at least one online shopping, Romania surpassing countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Croatia and Bulgaria in terms of the percentage of online customers from the total population, according to Kantar Millward Brown survey, as quoted by the ARMO.
At the same time, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) data show that Romania has a population of approximately 19.5 million inhabitants, of which 12.6 million are in the 16-65 age group and 11 million are Internet users.
"E-commerce has become a business generator, expanding online representing an opportunity to keep business in front of large commercial chains. The number of online active stores in Romania has doubled from 7,000 in 2017 to 14,000 today. It is estimated that in 2019, their number will increases by about 7 percent, and thus, there will be 15,000 active online stores. Sales for the fashion, home & deco categories, toys, home and garden, children's products have a high growth potential in the coming years. Among the benefits of e-commerce for customers are: the great variety of brands and products available, the better price-quality ratio, the products being comparable in a transparent manner, fast access to the latest products or latest releases on the market, access to reviews buyers, the possibility of multiple returns, the possibility of free return and the variety of payment methods (card, online instalment, reimbursement, online banking)," the ARMO report mentions.
According to the quoted source, a quarter of Romanians (25 percent) prefer to pay using cards, while Kantar Millward Brown data from 2018 reveal that shopping by mobile phones rose to 57.3 percent with a growing trend.
Launched in 2010, the Romanian Online Shops Association represents online stores of Romania and supports the interests of its members. The Association has developed the Code of Best Practices of Online Stores and a program for certifying online stores of Romania, in accordance with this Code.