E-Commerce and online shopping market trends in Moldova. From "optional" to "mandatory".

When was the last time you shopped online? I'll make a guess. It has been between a day and 1 month ago. Did you buy clothes? Electronics? Care products or some books? Maybe you even bought food online and it was delivered to your house?

To make you even more curious, I will start by revealing to you some global E-Commerce statistics:

• The first online store appeared in 1994 and belonged to Pizza Hut.
• 21.8% of the world's population buys online.
• In 2019, 14.1% of global retail sales were made online.
• Global E-Commerce sales are expected to reach $ 5 trillion by 2021.
• Men spend more time shopping online than women.
• Generation X (born between 1965 - 1980) is the largest group of online shoppers.
• 85% of buyers rely on reviews and research when deciding what to buy.
• Over 69% of shoppers abandon their shopping carts.
• Online shops active on social media have 32% more sales.
• By 2040, around 95% of all purchases are expected to be via E-Commerce.

E-Commerce is one of the fastest-growing sectors. Moldova is no exception, with a market that is constantly developing and rapidly following global trends. The Internet Traffic and Audience Measurement Study, conducted by the Audit Bureau of Circulation and Internet (BATI) in partnership with Gemius, shows that Moldova's online market has been on the rise in recent years. In January 2020, Moldova registered a number of 3.07 million internet users. In 2019, 12% more Moldovans have purchased online products or services compared to 2018 and 24% more than in 2017.

According to the statistics offered by the main players of the Moldovan E-Commerce market and our independent research (conducted on the 30 most influential E-Commerce players from Moldova), we dare to assume that the value of the online shopping industry in Moldova for 2019 exceeded the threshold of 450 million LEI, which is by approx. 50% more than in 2018. We also estimate that the E-Commerce market in Moldova will reach and probably exceed the estimated threshold of 3.5 billion lei in the next 5 years. It should be noted that this amount represents only the segment of E-Commerce, products that were purchased from the Internet. It does not include services, flights, vacations and travel, hotel reservations, so if they were added, the value of online shopping would increase considerably.

Moldovans are still lagging behind other European citizens in terms of online shopping. However, according to a study conducted by Magenta Consulting, almost half of Internet users in our country have bought at least once on the Internet, and over 272 000 Internet users in Moldova say they shop online several times a month.

The main reasons why most Moldovans opt for online shopping are simple: the short time they can shop and the huge variety of products that the internet offers.

The average online shopper in Moldova is between 25 and 35 years old. About 8 from 10 shoppers live in cities. Another important observation in internet usage habits is reflected in the traffic generated from different devices, thus, 52.25% is generated from PC, 44.13% from mobile phone and 2.64% from tablet. M-Commerce is becoming increasingly popular, with around one-third of all digital orders placed via smartphones in 2018. Moreover, above 50% of online buyers made purchases via mobile apps.

In addition to E-Commerce websites and apps, a high double-digit share of Moldovan’s shoppers place orders via social networks. Fashion, consumer electronics and personal care products were the leading categories purchased by consumers online.

After March 2020, the statistics will change significantly. The changes will be driven by restrictions on retailing through traditional stores during the state of emergency, as well as encouraging entrepreneurs and consumers to go online. Online E-Commerce already increased by 30% in Moldova in the context of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, in a recent post by the Ministry of Economy, IT companies in the country were urged to help domestic producers with E-Commerce platforms. Thus, transferring their business online could be a lifesaver for some entrepreneurs, especially retailers.

From the moment a consumer enters a website, his journey must be enjoyable, secure and personalized. Customers' buying experiences will make the difference between companies, recent data shows that 41% of consumers have changed the brands they buy due to a lack of a personalized approach, and 50% say they have done so because of “a negative buying experience”.

What should traders do? First, make sure that their messages and offers are accessible and relevant to local consumers, they have to invest in technologies that improve the consumers' buying experience and are suited to their needs, culture and habits. When the customer has made the decision to buy a product, the process must take place without any effort, be simple, fast and secure. You should always create the best possible E-Commerce experience for your customers.

All in all, the future looks bright for Moldovan E-Commerce.  Difficult times open up a space for discovery, planning, and learning. Retailers need to be ready to invest in online platforms and to address the needs of customers who, after the crisis, will be even more inclined to use digital services. The best they can do is to stay on top of researching E-Commerce trends and predictions and prepare for the changes likely to come.

In the current situation, Indrivo comes to support local businesses and producers who need to adapt in a very short time and launches a program to support them, offering software solutions for E-Commerce, at affordable prices and the most important, with the possibility of billing based on a monthly subscription within up to 3 years. All of our E-Commerce solutions are currently discounted to help local businesses ride out the coronavirus.

Thus, in just one week, Moldovan companies can benefit from a fully functional online shop, through which they can continue their activity and keep the cash flow open during times of crisis. The online shops created by our experts, among others, have a customized and modern design, are completely adapted to their own brand and optimized for mobile devices. We ensure the technical implementation of the store, hosting, security updates, integrations with online payment Gateways, integrations with complementary service providers, such as marketing, data analytics, email, as well as maintenance and technical support.

Thus, we believe that for brick-and-mortar businesses that worked until recently in offline, launching an online shop could be the only solution for continuing their economic activity. Economic flows should continue to operate, and what helps economies stay afloat is E-Commerce.