One in two Romanians who have access to the internet buy food, coffee, and hygiene products online and over 60% of respondents intend to continue buying online, according to an iVox.ro study commissioned by Blugento, a Romanian company that supplies eCommerce solutions.

The conclusions of the study, quoted by Agerpres, are likely to raise some question marks. Still, online shopping has become visibly more popular during lockdown for very diverse reasons.

Considering that 81% of Romanians had access to the internet in 2018, according to Eurostat, the study implies that over 40% of Romanians “currently buy food, coffee, and hygiene products online.”

However, in 2019, only 23% of Romanians made an online purchase (irrespective of the category of goods - with food, coffee, and hygiene products not among the most frequent).

Realistically, except for maybe some cosmetics products, buying food, coffee, or hygiene products is feasible within reasonable limits only in first-tier or medium-sized cities - a fact that raises question marks about the sampling of the poll.

Eurostat data about 80% of Romanians “having access to internet” is questionable as well, as long as half of the children proved not to have access to the internet - according to evidence revealed during the lockdown when the Government encouraged online school as the sole option.

According to the same iVox study, two out of three Romanians [who buy online] pay for their purchases online as well, giving up cash during the lockdown, for safety reasons.

The study shows that the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have sharply changed the buying behavior of Romanians, who migrate en masse to online stores, the poll operated for the online store producer Blugento concluded.

According to the study, the effects of the pandemic could cause a structural change in the retail sector in Romania.

(Photo: Pixabay)

editor@romania-insider.com