Romanian companies enjoy basic ecommerce shares within EU

Romania only surpasses Bulgaria (13% in e-purchases and 9% in e-sales) and Greece (11% and 7%) in this aspect,a ccording to a report issued by EuroStat, a market research company, business-review.eu reports.

Among the EU member states in 2014, electronic purchases were made by more than half of enterprises in Austria (68%), the Czech Republic (56%), Germany (54%), Finland and the UK (both 51%), while for e-sales, the share was lower in every member state. It however concerned at least a quarter of enterprises in Ireland (32%), Sweden (28%), Denmark and Germany (both 27%), Belgium (26%), the Czech Republic and the Netherlands (both 25%).

Regarding turnover generated from e-sales, Ireland was, among those for which data is available, the member state registering the highest share (37% of total turnover of enterprises), ahead of the Czech Republic (30%), Slovakia, Finland and the UK (all 21%). Romania stands at the opposite end of the scale with 8%, along with Cyprus (6%), Bulgaria (5%) and Greece (1%).

In 2014, more than twice as many enterprises engaged in e-purchases than in e-sales at EU level. While 40% of enterprises made purchases electronically, only 19% of enterprises made electronic sales. The percentage of turnover on e-sales amounted to 17% of the total turnover of enterprises with 10 or more persons employed in the EU.

Based on size, 43% of large enterprises made e-sales corresponding to 24% of total turnover in this size class and, similarly, 28% of medium sized enterprises made e-sales corresponding to 13% of total turnover in this size class. By contrast, 17% of small enterprises engaged in e-sales, corresponding to only 6% of the turnover of such enterprises.

When it comes to ecommerce within and outside the EU bloc, 2% of Romanian companies made sales online to other member states, 1% outside the EU, while 12% sold on the local market. In 2014, while 18% of EU enterprises sold electronically on their domestic market, e-sales abroad were more limited: 8% sold online to customers in another EU member state, and 5% to customers in non-EU countries.