site.btaNew Organization Aims to Connect Balkan Businesses

Balkan eCommerce Summit founder Dr. Nikola Ilchev officially announced the establishment of a Balkan Business Club, an organization that aims to connect businesses in the Balkans born out of the need for deeper partnerships. In his words, it is a natural extension of the Balkan eCommerce Summit, which is too big an event and difficult to implement more than once a year.

The club's first activity will be in early June, Ilchev said during a press conference at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia on Tuesday. "With the creation of this club, we will create better links between markets, easier access to new partners and increase the ability of companies in the region to do more successful business in general," Ilchev said.

He said that this year's edition of the Balkan eCommerce Summit will be held on April 29 and 30 at Arena 8888 Sofia. According to Ilchev, the forum is most useful in that it brings together businesses from the region in one place and gives them the opportunity to make business contacts. This year there is increased interest from companies from the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Director of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Directorate at the Executive Agency for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (EASME), Marian Stoyanov, said that the agency is once again an institutional partner of the Balkan eCommerce Summit.

Support for small and medium-sized enterprises is key, especially when it comes to the online positioning of each brand, Stoyanov said. He added that this is a step towards the growth of companies and helps their successful implementation in foreign markets.

Metrica CEO Milena Ramcheva cited data from their study, which shows that 70% of Europeans shop from foreign websites, and in our region cross-border trade is growing by over 15% year-on-year.

Data shows that customers expect fast delivery, service in local language and highly localized offers. Also, 41% of online merchants in the region expect an increase in sales, which coincides with the growth in demand for personalized experiences.

Miroslava Staneva, brand marketing manager at eMAG, cited data from the European eCommerce Report 2024, which found that 50% of the Bulgarian population aged 16 to 74 has made an online purchase. Staneva stressed that these numbers are growing every year, meaning there is great potential for online retailers.