Do you already have a successful online store in your domestic market and want to continue growing? Expanding abroad can give your business access to new customers, additional revenue streams and opportunities that may no longer be available to the same extent at home.
Romania is particularly relevant for e-commerce businesses from Central and Eastern Europe. Its online market has grown significantly in recent years, while the gap between widespread internet access and the share of people who actually shop online still leaves room for further development.
For online stores looking to expand to Romania, the market offers strong digital adoption, growing e-commerce activity and access to a large customer base.
However, expanding to Romania requires more than translating your website and launching advertising. Localization, customer support, logistics, payments and returns all need to be adapted to the local market.
In this article, we look at three practical reasons why Romania deserves consideration and what an online store should prepare before entering the market.
Table of Contents
- Current Development of the Romanian E-commerce Market
- 3 Reasons to Expand to Romania
- Romania in Numbers
- How to Adapt an Online Store to the Romanian Market
- Conclusion
1. Current Development of the Romanian E-commerce Market
Romanian e-commerce has developed considerably over the past few years and is now one of the relevant digital markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
According to data cited by the Romanian Association of Online Stores, the Romanian B2C e-commerce sector reached approximately €12.9 billion in 2025, representing year-on-year growth of around 10%. The same source estimates that Romania accounted for more than half of Eastern Europe’s total e-commerce value in 2025.
Online shopping adoption has also increased strongly over the longer term. Eurostat data show that Romania recorded one of the largest increases in online shopping in the EU between 2014 and 2024: the share of internet users buying online increased from 17% to 60% during that period.
For an expanding online store, this combination of market growth and increasing digital adoption makes Romania worth analysing carefully rather than treating it simply as another neighbouring market.
2. 3 Reasons to Expand to Romania
1. A Large and Growing E-commerce Market
The first reason is straightforward: Romanian e-commerce is considerably larger today than it was only a few years ago.
The market more than doubled in value compared with 2021, reaching €12.9 billion in 2025 according to the European E-Commerce Report data cited by ARMO.
That does not mean that every online store will automatically succeed in Romania. It does mean that businesses entering the market are addressing an established e-commerce ecosystem rather than a niche channel.
For an international retailer, the important question is therefore not simply whether Romanians shop online, but whether the product, pricing, localization and service model are competitive in the Romanian environment.
2. There Is Still Room for Further Online Adoption
High market value does not necessarily mean that the Romanian market has reached full maturity.
The European E-Commerce Report 2026 indicates that internet penetration in Romania reached approximately 95% in 2025, while the proportion identified as online buyers remained lower. This gap suggests that further conversion from internet users to regular online shoppers is still possible.
Eurostat also shows how quickly behaviour has changed: Romania recorded the largest increase in online shopping among EU countries between 2014 and 2024, rising by 43 percentage points.
For e-commerce managers, this is more useful than describing Romania as a market with “low competition”. Competition already exists and includes strong domestic and international players. The opportunity lies in entering with the right positioning and a properly localized customer experience.
3. Cross-border E-commerce Is Already Part of the Market
Romanian consumers are not limited to domestic stores. Foreign platforms and cross-border sellers already play a meaningful role in the market.
Data presented by the Romanian tax authority in 2025 showed substantial growth in VAT collected through the EU’s OSS and IOSS systems for cross-border e-commerce transactions. In the first half of 2025, the amount associated with these operations was reported at approximately €316 million, up 34% compared with the same period of 2024.
For a foreign online store, however, cross-border purchasing behaviour should not be confused with automatic customer trust.
A store still needs to provide:
- professionally localized content,
- clear delivery information,
- suitable payment methods,
- customer support in Romanian,
- transparent return and complaint procedures.
The easier the store is to understand and deal with, the less “foreign” the purchasing experience feels to the customer.
If you are preparing your international expansion, it is also worth reviewing the most common e-commerce expansion mistakes before launching in a new market.
3. Romania in Numbers
A few current indicators help put the opportunity into perspective:
- €12.9 billion – estimated value of Romanian B2C e-commerce in 2025.
- +10% – year-on-year market growth reported for 2025.
- 95% – internet penetration reported for Romania in 2025 in the European E-Commerce Report cited by ARMO.
- +43 percentage points – increase in the share of Romanian internet users shopping online between 2014 and 2024, from 17% to 60%.
- Romania was among the EU countries with the strongest long-term growth in online shopping adoption.
These figures are more useful than relying on older transaction or mobile-traffic statistics from 2021–2022, because the Romanian e-commerce market has changed substantially since then.
4. How to Adapt an Online Store to the Romanian Market
Entering Romania successfully is not simply a matter of making a Slovak or Czech online store available in Romanian.
The entire customer journey should be reviewed from the perspective of a Romanian customer.
Professional Translation and Localization
Product pages, checkout information, automated emails, terms and customer communication should use natural Romanian terminology.
Literal translation can make content understandable without making it feel local. Important customer-facing texts should therefore be reviewed by people who understand both the language and the e-commerce context.
Customer Support in Romanian
Customer support becomes particularly important when something does not go according to plan.
A customer may need help with:
- an order,
- payment,
- delivery,
- product information,
- a return,
- a complaint.
Providing support in Romanian makes it easier to explain the next step clearly and reduces the risk of misunderstandings.
Returns and Complaints
The return process should be explained before the customer places an order.
Customers should be able to understand:
- where the product must be returned,
- what information is required,
- what happens after the parcel is received,
- when they can expect another update or refund.
Where appropriate, a local return solution can also simplify the process.
Payments and Delivery
Payment and delivery options should be selected according to the market rather than copied automatically from the domestic store.
The e-shop should also make sure that customer support can access current order and tracking information. A generic answer such as “your parcel is on the way” is less useful than a clear explanation of the actual order status and the next expected step.
Marketplace Presence Is an Option, Not a Requirement
Platforms such as eMAG can be relevant for some businesses, but selling through a marketplace is not automatically the right strategy for every online store.
The decision should depend on the product category, margins, brand strategy and the role marketplaces are expected to play in the overall market-entry plan.
Romania should therefore be approached through market analysis first, rather than by assuming that every successful expansion must follow the same sales-channel model.
Conclusion
Romania has changed considerably since the early 2020s. The country now represents a substantial e-commerce market, while online shopping adoption continues to develop.
For foreign online stores, this creates an interesting opportunity — but not an effortless one.
Successful expansion requires preparation across several areas:
- market positioning,
- professional localization,
- Romanian-language customer support,
- payment and delivery processes,
- returns and complaints,
- consistent communication throughout the customer journey.
The goal should not be simply to make an existing online store available in Romania. The goal is to create a purchasing experience that works properly for Romanian customers.
At FOZA SA, we help online stores prepare for international expansion through localization, customer support and operational services adapted to individual markets.
Planning to expand to Romania? Contact us and we’ll help you identify the steps your online store needs before launch.
