ASSESSMENT OF E-COMMERCE IN BULGARIA AND EUROPEAN UNION TRENDS

Abstract

E-commerce is increasingly entering the economies of the countries of the European Union. According to the last publication of "E-marketer", this is one of the few sectors that manage to have over a 16 % annual growth rate in 2020 (down from 20,2% last year) (1). Its advantages are indisputable, but is it likely a country as Bulgaria to be successful in its implementation? Purpose: The article aims to present some characteristics of e-commerce in Bulgaria during the 2012- 2019 period. Methods: To conduct a comparative analysis with the European Union in terms of some key criteria, such as (growth of e-commerce, the % of companies selling online, the share of consumers shopping online, etc. Results: Only 11% of enterprises in Bulgaria in 2019 are increasingly relying on e-commerce sales in order to maximize their profit. In the last two years (2018 – 2019), on average, over 50% of European Union consumers have made an online purchase but for Bulgarians, this share is only 14%. Conclusions: Despite this growth, our country remains far behind, by EU average standards but ecommerce in Bulgaria has all the necessary prerequisites to be one of the most successful sectors of the economy.

Keywords

• e-commerce
• online shopping
• assessment
• bulgaria
• european union