E-COMMERCE IN BULGARIA, ROMANIA, GREECE, HUNGARY, AND CROATIA: INSIGHTS FROM 2025 AND FORECASTS FOR 2026
E-commerce in Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Hungary, and Croatia continued to gain momentum throughout 2025, although the pace of growth varied significantly across the region. These findings are part of the report “State of eCommerce in the Balkans 2025”, developed over nine months by the Balkan eCommerce Summit team. The study provides a detailed snapshot of how online businesses operate across the five Southeastern European markets and outlines key trends and expectations for 2026.
All five countries experienced growth in online revenues during 2025, but each at a different pace. Hungary emerged as the clear leader in regional growth, with 75% of businesses reporting an increase in online revenues compared to the previous year. A significant 41.7% of Hungarian companies operate entirely online, and another 12.5% generate more than half of their revenue through e-commerce. This combination of strong growth and a large share of fully online businesses positions Hungary at the top of the regional ranking. Romania closely follows, with 61.6% of companies reporting year-on-year revenue growth. Of these, 34.6% are fully online businesses, while an additional 23.1% generate more than half of their turnover via digital channels. Many Romanian merchants are now structurally dependent on online sales, viewing them as a standard business model rather than a new approach.
Croatia represents a “golden middle,” showing steady but somewhat uneven growth. Nearly 60% of surveyed companies reported increases in online revenues, but just over 20% sell exclusively online. Encouragingly, 40% already generate most of their revenue digitally, a figure that continues to grow. At the same time, around 45% of Croatian businesses still receive less than a quarter of their revenues online, making the market relatively polarised between highly digital players and those still reliant on physical sales. Greece experienced moderate but positive growth, with 52.8% of companies reporting annual increases in online revenues. Only 15.1% operate exclusively online, and 24.5% generate more than half of their turnover through internet channels. For many Greek companies, e-commerce is important but not yet a primary revenue driver, indicating significant opportunities for expansion.
Bulgaria closes the ranking with a more mixed growth profile but an impressive base of fully digital brands. While 45.7% of companies reported increases in online revenues, 34.6% operate entirely online, and another 19.7% generate more than half of their sales via e-commerce. Although growth is less widespread than in Hungary or Romania, Bulgaria already boasts a solid core of digital-first businesses, providing a strong foundation for further expansion.
Across all five markets, mobile-optimized websites dominate, with responsive design being the primary tool for serving customers via smartphones. Native mobile apps and progressive web apps (PWAs) exist but remain relatively rare. For end consumers, fast delivery, quality service, competitive pricing, and discounts are far more important than whether a website is a PWA or standard mobile version.
Despite ambitions for cross-border expansion, e-commerce remains largely domestic in these markets. In Greece and Bulgaria, over 40% of surveyed companies do not sell internationally at all. In Croatia, Romania, and Hungary, most merchants have few or no foreign customers, with international sales representing less than 10% of total revenues. The data suggests that while international expansion is a goal for many, it is still largely aspirational. Interestingly, Hungary and Romania, where growth is strongest, also show higher shares of companies generating significant export revenue, indicating that appetite for international markets grows alongside digital maturity and established local market strength.
Operational challenges across the region remain remarkably similar. Customer acquisition and marketing are the largest obstacles, followed closely by logistics and order fulfilment, particularly for larger merchants. While issues such as payments, fraud prevention, or software selection exist, they are less critical than driving demand and scaling operations.
Looking ahead to 2026, growth is expected to continue, but ambitions differ by market. In Greece and Croatia, the primary focus will remain on consolidating domestic market positions. In Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary, larger players are already looking toward regional and even pan-European expansion.
As Nikola Ilchev, author of the study and organizer of the Balkan eCommerce Summit, notes: “The data clearly shows that the region is not moving as a single bloc. In 2026, success will not depend on geography, but on how intelligently businesses use marketing, automation, and data-driven decision-making.”
The insights from the “State of eCommerce 2025” report will serve as a foundation for discussions at the Balkan eCommerce Summit 2026, helping merchants, investors, and stakeholders understand market dynamics, identify growth opportunities, and prepare for the challenges and trends of the coming year.
