Bulgarian consumers are increasingly interested in the possibility of making payments through their mobile phones or online when it comes to purchasing. The facilitation of these procedures is already complemented by a higher purchasing power of citizens, as well as a better level of security for digital transactions. For the first 9 months of this year, there are over 1,250 000 online buyers in Bulgaria.
This holiday season people who use the Internet will make gifts on average totalling more than 330 BGN. Compared to the average costs last year, this means that people who will buy gifts through the Internet will spend 100 BGN more. The increase in the amount of Christmas gifts is another indicator of the increase in employment and the increase in the income of the population.
The mobile phone remains the other preferred shopping platform. The biggest interest in mobile payments (about 80 percent) is expressed by consumers in age groups 18-24 and 35-44.
Mobile payments in the country are becoming increasingly popular, due both to consumers’ positive attitudes towards innovative payment methods and to the convenience and safety of mobile transactions.
One of three uses more than 10 digital services and spends more than five hours a day in front of its mobile device, which puts Bulgaria at a leadership position in Europe. 70 percent of Bulgarians indicate the phone as a preferred alternative for payment. Also, 34 percent of our fellow countrymen would use their tablets to make payments and 16 percent would rely on smart devices such as clocks and wristbands.
Online trade for end-users in Bulgaria has increased to €664 million in 2018. This is evident from the European e-Commerce Report for 2018, according to which the growth of the market for 2018 compared to last year reaches 30 percent. In developed European countries the main consumer wishes for improvement are delivery rates and technical failures. In comparison, in Bulgaria only 6.9 percent of online buyers say delivery times can be faster and 1.9 percent reported a technical error in a site.
The data come days before this year’s edition of the so-called Black Friday on 23 November, which is expected to place record results in Europe and in the US.
The e-commerce giant Alibaba announced earlier this week that sales through online platforms in China on 11 November (Singles’ Day) reached a record of 213 billion yuan or 30.7 billion US dollars, an increase of 27 percent compared to last year.
