The role of Greece
His market e-commerce of the wider region of the Balkans and SE Europe is one of the fastest growing both at the European and international level. In particular, in 2022 the value of e-commerce of Central and Eastern European countries approached 94 billion euros, with an annual increase of 14% during the last five years, while in 2023 it exceeded 100 billion euros.
These pieces of research that are seeing the light of day and many more will be presented during the Balkan eCommerce Summit organized on April 4 and 5, 2024 in Sofia, Bulgaria, with the participation of 14 countries, a large number of companies and electronic platforms. The exclusive representative of the conference in Greece is the company Generation Y.
As stated by Nikola Ilchev, eCommerce Academy and Balkan eCommerce Summit Founder, at this year’s conference the e-commerce markets of Greece, Romania and Hungary will be at the center of topics to be discussed and analyzed, due to their positive prospects. The founder of the conference, which is being organized for the second time, points out that during the work the emphasis will be placed on the networking of the participating companies both with each other and with representatives from international e-commerce platforms, such as Meta, Tik-Tok, Microsoft, BigCommerce, Geopost Francekka to create synergies to expand online sales in a market that exceeds 80 million inhabitants and is growing at a rapid pace.
Social media is changing e-commerce – the dominant channel is the smart phone
89% of traffic today in e-shops in the Balkan countries comes from social media, according to detailed data (Mediapost Hit Mail survey) that will be presented at the conference, reports Nikola Ilchev. For this reason, Digital Marketing will be at the center of the informative presentations of the conference to the participating companies, with the aim of leading them to adopt methods for a substantial increase in sales. Other interesting figures are that 44% of e-shopping consumers in Europe choose out-of-home delivery solutions, while only 68% of e-shopping consumers prioritize price in their purchasing decisions.
Another essential issue, linked to the development prospects of e-commerce, is the choice of the optimal solution that suits each company active in e-commerce in the field of transportation and delivery of products to the final consumer, with speed and safety. A topic that will also concern the conference.
Regarding the investment required to create an e-shop, as Nikola Ilchev reports, it is higher than a few years ago mainly due to the increase in traffic that requires better infrastructure. However, the existence of reliable electronic platforms that can provide an outlet for businesses to operate in online markets requires smaller investments.
Anastasios Spanidis, president of the GPA Business Group and founder of Generation Y, as well as Chryssa Faki, Head of Business Development of Generation Y, who will present the challenges faced by businesses in the sector, will participate in the conference as speakers. of e-commerce, proposing ways to turn these challenges into opportunities. For her part, Evi Boukorou-Georgouda, managing director of Generation Y, invites Greek and Cypriot businesses to participate in the Balkan eCommerce Summit in order to be inspired by leaders of the e-commerce industry, keynote speakers and explore ways in which they can to expand their business in the Balkan markets.
