Romania

Online spending in Romania reached 11.7 billion euros last year with 7.7 billion euros spent on products. This was an increase of 10 percent. Growth remains strong and is expected to continue this year.

Trendyol, a major ecommerce player from Turkey, is developing plans to build a regional logistics center near the Romanian capital, Bucharest. The company aims to serve all of southeastern Europe from the new logistics hub, which will employ 250 people when fully operational in 2025.

Romanian ecommerce fulfillment provider Helpship has been acquired by euShipments, a Bulgarian logistics company for online sellers. Thanks to the acquisition, euShipments can strengthen its presence in the Romanian market.

SwipBox is partnering with Cargus, a well-known courier in Romania. Three hundred parcel lockers will be installed this month. The pilot will take place in Bucharest, which entails another international expansion for SwipBox.

Italian marketplace Everli announced that it will expand into Germany and Romania in early 2022. This news follows a period of rapid growth for the company. It is now operating in more than 80 cities across Italy, Poland, Czech Republic and France.

Smart Fintech, an open banking third party provider from Romania, has officially launched SmartPay. This is said to be the first alternative payment solution that is authorized by the National Bank of Romania.

Sameday, a courier company from Romania, is expanding in Hungary. It already offers delivery options to customers in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, but soon the company will expand its coverage nationwide.

ProfiCircle, a B2b marketplace from Romania that sells commercial equipment like pallet racks and industrial mezzanines, is expanding. The startup will launch its marketplace in Germany and Switzerland next month.

Oveit, an ecommerce tech startup from Romania, aims to raise 450,000 euros through an equity crowdfunding campaign on the local platform SeedBlink. Oveit is known for its live stream shopping service called Streams.live, which lets retailers sell directly to consumers through live video sessions.

Food Union, a dairy production and distribution company from Latvia, has launched an ecommerce distribution service in four markets across Europe. The Riga-based company now delivers ice cream, dairy products, pastry and frozen food to customers in Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Denmark.

Stripe has expanded its payment services in Europe. The American tech company is now generally available in the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Malta. The payments company can now support businesses in 29 countries across Europe.

H&M Group has announced the online expansion of five of its brands. This month, COS, Weekday, Monki, & Other Stories and Arket will have their collections available online in nine new markets across Europe.

Takeaway.com, the Dutch company that's gaining more and more market share in Europe, has acquired two food delivery marketplaces in Eastern Europe. Takeaway.com is now the owner of BGmenu from Bulgaria and Oliviera from Romania.

Ecommerce in Romania was worth 1.8 billion euros last year, which corresponds to an increase of 30 percent compared to the situation in 2015. This figure represents only the online sales of products. Consumers in Romania made on average 8.4 online purchases in 2016, slightly more than one year before.

The Romanian ecommerce association ARMO has joined Ecommerce Europe, one week after it joined EMOTA, another pan-European ecommerce association. It's the first time ever a national ecommerce association has joined both umbrella organizations.