COVID-19 impact in Romanian e-commerce companies 2022

Corina Cimpoca, founder MKOR, was one of the speakers at European Digital Commerce by VTEX, the benchmark event in the Central and Eastern Europe retail industry, held May 5th, 2022.

The conference brought together hundreds of retail specialists and dozens of speakers and provided premium content for participants regarding the evolution of the retail industry.

Corina was joined on stage by e-commerce experts such as Dan Ostahie, Altex CEO, Robert Berza, Fashion Days General Manager, Cristi Movilă, VTEX Eastern Europe General Manager & EMEA SVP, and Valentin Radu, Omniconvert CEO.

During the event, Corina presented pioneering data regarding the COVID-19 impact in Romanian e-commerce companies, followed by the strategic actions they have taken to meet the challenges and adapt to new market trends.

The study regarding the local e-commerce market was conducted in collaboration with our VTEX partners . Its key insights were presented in an interactive dashboard, a digital tool aligned to the standards of one of the most innovative industries – e-commerce.

The Romanian E-Commerce Report 2022 provides key insights regarding:

The presence of e-businesses in online
The challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
The marketing tools used to meet the challenges

COVID-19 impact in Romanian e-commerce companies

The study was conducted on business owners, middle and top managers from 217 Romanian retail companies. Respondents were asked to specify how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the companies they own or work in, as well as to detail the strategies and tools they implemented to overcome these challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on Romanian e-commerce companies, regardless of size. More than half of the companies that participated in the study (58%) reported increases in online sales in March 2022 versus March 2020.

Most business KPIs increased during this timeframe, while operational indicators stagnated regardless the company’s size or its longevity in online commerce.

The main strategies adopted to meet the pandemic challenges included expanding the company’s product or service portfolio (62%) and increasing the marketing budget (48%).

In terms of sales strategy, the study’s key findings indicate that SMEs rely mainly on digital channels to market their products, while large companies are more likely to own both online and physical stores.

Challenges faced by Romanian e-commerce businesses

On average, Romanian e-businesses faced two different types of challenges. The size of the company influences the number of difficulties experienced, which diversify as the business grows in complexity.

Most pain points reported by respondents relate to external factors such as:

competitors (21%)
consumer behaviour (especially shopping cart abandonment)
supply chain

Small businesses faced challenges regarding shopping cart abandonment in particular (23%) and related to supply and delivery chain (23%), while medium-sized businesses experienced difficulties regarding the competitive environment (55%). Large companies identified conversion of website visitors into customers as their main challenge (55%).

Marketing tools adopted to overcome challenges

More than half (62%) of the tools used by online retailers to promote themselves are paid. The use of Social Media and Google Ads campaigns is justified by the increased marketing budgets during the pandemic. These also helped drive traffic to the website.

Content marketing is also popular, with SEO optimization being the most widely used organic tool to promote a business.

However, choosing the right marketing tools is conditioned by the size of the company. Microenterprises use paid online campaigns in particular to gain visibility, while large companies adopt multi-channel strategies and build on the reputation they already have.

Post COVID-19 consumer behaviour trends in Romania

In order to provide a 360 perspective on the trends dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania, we also provided data on consumer behaviour at the European Digital Commerce event.

Data extracted from the first real-time Romanian retail market study indicated the local consumers’ appetite for digital technologies, a trend identified following the limited access to physical stores during COVID-19.

Most Romanians expect a High-Tech (54%), Omnichannel (16%) and Premium experience, at affordable prices (37%) in The Store of Tomorrow.

Discover the first .Live study in Romanian retail

Consumer Trends.Live is a digital market research project by MKOR, which aims to change the perspective on research and how its results can influence the decision-making process in real-time.

We are proud to provide real-time data, directly from consumers, to Romanian retailers so they can identify market trends as they occur. This is the only way they can adapt their business strategy to remain relevant to their target audience and one step ahead of their competitors.

We monitor .Live 7 different retail industries, starting 2021: