eMAG aims to offer customers in Southeast Europe access to a wide range of value-added products and services, targeting a population of over 35 million people and with investments of over 180 million euros, including in logistics and entrepreneurship, said Stejara Pircan, Senior VP eMAG Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, in an interview with CaleaEuropeană.ro.
To support local entrepreneurs and boost cross-border sales, eMAG has invested in technology, logistics and financial services, and a key aspect has been the synchronization of the platforms in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, facilitating international sales without additional efforts from sellers, said Stejara Pircan, pointing out that there are 56.000 entrepreneurs doing business in the three countries through eMAG, while the number of merchants exporting through eMAG Marketplace from Romania to Hungary and Bulgaria or from the two countries to Romania has doubled in the last year.
In the interview, Stejara Pircan emphasized the advantages for eMAG Marketplace sellers in the context of regional expansion, the challenges on the South-East European markets and the development of the logistics infrastructure.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: What strategies does eMAG have to maintain and enhance cross-border sales growth in the future, given the growing market in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, and how do you see the impact of the expansion of eMAG Marketplace in Eastern and Southern Europe on the current ecosystem of sellers and consumers?
Stejara Pircan: Our long-term vision is to be able to offer customers across the SEE region tools to help them live a good life through value-added services and access to a very diverse range of products. We serve a population of over 35 million people and through our sustained investments in technology, logistics, entrepreneurship or financial services, we have created a strong community of entrepreneurs who we want to thrive alongside us. That’s 56.000 entrepreneurs doing business in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, growing year on year. The number of traders exporting through eMAG Marketplace from Romania to Hungary and Bulgaria or from Hungary and Bulgaria to Romania has doubled in the last year to more than 12.000.
We have invested in warehouses in Romania and Hungary which we have equipped with state-of-the-art technology and we have developed, together with Sameday, the network of delivery points in proximity in all three countries where we operate. In parallel, we have extended the Genius service with free delivery and exclusive offers in over 300 locations in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, opening the program also to retailers who have access to our base of hundreds of thousands of loyal customers.
One of the most important strategic decisions we have invested in, which has helped to increase the number of companies choosing to sell cross-border, was the synchronization of the three platforms in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The impact of this investment was that sellers no longer had to list their products individually on the three platforms, but benefited from an automated process that saved them additional effort.
In parallel, we developed an automated solution for translating product descriptions, which meant that sellers no longer needed to hire Bulgarian or Hungarian speakers to handle this process. At the same time, the extension of the Fulfilment service, where we take over the entire logistics operations, as well as the customer relations area, has greatly simplified the international expansion process. In order to achieve these results, in the last three years alone we have invested more than RON 3.2 billion, and in the fiscal year that started on April 1, 2024, we plan to invest RON 900 million.
The expansion of eMAG’s offer, which now exceeds 22 million offers in Romania alone, more than double the previous year, is also due to sellers who are always looking for new products to satisfy their customers’ needs. More than 60% of the products ordered by eMAG customers are from the sellers’ offer, and the diversification of the product range has also changed buying habits: people now prefer to order several products in one order, covering the needs of the whole family.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: What are the main advantages for sellers who join eMAG Marketplace in the context of the regional expansion in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary?
Stejara Pircan: Accessing additional sales channels is opportune for any retail business, as each additional channel increases the likelihood of having a stable additional revenue. Our partners benefit from the technology infrastructure that we have built with significant investment and have access to our customer base at no listing cost. They also benefit from the positive image transfer: more than 85% of the region’s population of more than 35 million people know what eMAG is and one in three product searches start on eMAG. We register 120 million visits/month on the eMAG website and 6.7 million people have the eMAG app installed on their mobile phone. We have over 7 million active customers, of which 4.5 million in Romania, 1.9 million in Hungary and 900,000 in Bulgaria.
Entrepreneurs who have made the decision to move into other markets through eMAG Marketplace have seen the benefits in terms of sales: those who have expanded into Bulgaria and Hungary had 37% additional sales last year. And cross-border expansion is just one of five programs we make available to companies that join our community. Another is Genius, and sellers who have listed products in this program have seen a doubling of their conversion rate. We have more than 700.000 loyal customers who have a Genius subscription, and our recent expansion in the region is expected to generate even more sales. In Hungary, one month after we launched the service, we had already reached 50.000 users, and in Bulgaria, two months after launch, we had 100.000 users.
At the same time, sellers have the advantage that they can use this additional sales channel effortlessly if they choose the Fulfilment service. Another useful tool is eMAG Ads, a pay-per-click service that can give them more than 40% more visibility on the product pages of the products they order. All these programs are complemented by eMAG Campaigns, i.e. all the campaigns we develop month after month, which can generate three to four times more sales for entrepreneurs who consistently list products.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: What are the main differences and challenges specific to Eastern and Southern European markets compared to Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary?
Stejara Pircan: In the region in which we operate, online commerce is developing and we believe that eMAG has an important role to play in accelerating this field, both in terms of investments in value-added services and from the perspective of the business community gathered in the Marketplace. Our objective is to become a regional ecommerce hub and our strategy is to develop technology and services in Romania and scale them internationally once we see that they work and generate the results we are aiming for. The three markets we are present in have many common characteristics. In all three countries, online commerce has a penetration rate of somewhere between 8-10%, and if we look at more mature markets, there is still a lot of room for growth. Among the challenges we see is therefore the need to increase the level of digitalization, but also the development of road infrastructure would help, especially in Romania.
Looking at the behavior of our customers, we notice that in Bulgaria and Hungary the appetite for cash payment is higher than in Romania, where card payment is increasing year on year. At the moment, in Romania 35% of orders are still paid cash on delivery, while in Hungary the percentage rises to 55% and in Bulgaria to 70%. What we are doing to contribute to the growth in card payments is to give people the flexibility to pay for products when it is the best time for them, which is why we have introduced payment methods that allow them to pay directly from their MyWallet account in four installments or 30 days or 12 installments with Hey Blu. We also offer other financing solutions through our partners in the banking industry.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: What measures have you taken to ensure a smooth integration of sellers from new markets into the eMAG Marketplace ecosystem?
Stejara Pircan: An important step for sellers in the region is the cross-border listing, which from our perspective is today as easy as it can be, as eMAG manages all the effort involved in listing in three countries. From listing or translating offers into languages other than the seller’s home language, to synchronizing offers and prices on the platform, all this effort is taken care of by us precisely to facilitate this experience for the sellers and support them to focus on their business.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: How does eMAG support retailers in understanding and adapting to local regulations and consumer preferences in Eastern and Southern European countries?
Stejara Pircan: All our processes and tools are compliant with European Union legislation, and technology helps us to comply. For example, in the case of discounted products, the discount has to be related to the lowest price in the last 30 days, and with the help of technology we can validate compliance before the start of a discount campaign. In addition, we have regular and very close communication with the sellers on the platform through newsletters that include articles on the legislation of each country in which we operate and the legislative news relevant to them, as well as advice on how to manage their cross-border business and how to comply with the legislation.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: What role do local partnerships play in eMAG Marketplace’s expansion strategy in these new regions and how do they help to improve the services offered?
Stejara Pircan: We have strong communities of local sellers in each of the countries where we operate, and this is extremely important because they come with a very good understanding of the local specifics, with products tailored to the consumer in that country and with the speed of delivery that customers expect.
Otherwise we make the best use of synergies at Group level, and a relevant example of this is the collaboration with Sameday, which this year is accelerating proximity delivery by expanding its delivery points and network of lockers. This also helps us because easybox delivery has seen very good customer adoption, and through it we have extended the reach for the Genius service with free delivery and exclusive offers. Genius is also an important program for sellers, as it gives them access to a loyal customer base that buys more online. The products that sellers sell through Genius thus achieve higher sales.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: What are eMAG’s expectations in terms of sales growth and customer base expansion as it expands into Eastern and Southern Europe?
Stejara Pircan: Our objective is to strengthen our presence in the region and to bring to these markets other services that we have tested in Romania and have proven their usefulness for our customers. We also aim to increase the range of products to cover every need and offer customers good prices, and if ten years ago, when we made the leap into international markets, we had 10.000 products on offer, now we have over 22 million, but there is room for growth if we look at more mature markets such as Poland, where over 200 million items can be ordered online. We are banking on the involvement of Marketplace entrepreneurs, and the volume of products they have sold through the platform has accounted for over 60% of the total, and the percentage is growing.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: What plans do you have for developing logistics infrastructure and delivery services in the new markets to ensure an optimal experience for both retailers and consumers?
Stejara Pircan: This fiscal year we plan to invest over 180 million euros, including in logistics and entrepreneurship.
We have already made significant investments in warehousing and robotization to be able to offer a better experience to our customers: we have been able to consolidate orders, i.e. group several products in the same parcel, and our productivity has increased four times. At the same time, we see that easybox delivery is preferred by the majority of customers in Romania and Hungary, where around 66% of orders are delivered by this method. In Bulgaria, delivery to nearby delivery points stands at 35%, rising steadily as the network expands. The network will reach 8.500 delivery points in Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria this year, up from 5.000 at the beginning of the year.
