Eastern Europe and E-Commerce
The countries that made up the Soviet Union have been laughed at since the became independent democracies in the 1990s. Those countries have been considered third world countries and have had plenty of internet scams that came out of them. However, more recently these former Soviet Block countries have been moving up quickly in the e-commerce arena. Eastern Europe is now the fourth largest region in the world in terms of B2C e-commerce. The region is also home to many emerging online retail markets. Analysts think it is due to the boom of e-commerce in Asia.
What Does This Mean for Eastern Europe?
According to PR Newswire, “B2C E-Commerce sales accounted for only a small one-digit share of the total retail sales in Eastern Europe in 2015, less than half of the shares in North America, Western Europe and Asia-Pacific. This is an indication of the potential for further online retail growth in Eastern Europe, supported by increasing Internet and online shopper penetration in its leading countries.”
This growth means that there is an increasing interest to start investing in Eastern European countries again. The better these companies can do in the next few months will be watched by companies and countries interested in working with the countries in region.
Why is this Good for Eastern Europe?
As the e-commerce begins to grow and evolve the better these companies will become and strong they will become. When this happens it will bring jobs and money into the region and hopefully end those jokes about how terrible it is to live there.
According to PR Newswire, “In other major markets of the region, including Turkey and Poland, online retail is also evolving. Important trends include the growth of mobile and cross-border E-Commerce, yStats.com finds. Smartphone penetration is growing across the region, with countries such as the Czech Republic having already surpassed a 50% smartphone penetration rate among the mobile phone users. Another interesting trend is the popularity of price comparison websites, especially in Greece, Romania and Hungary.”
