eMag, the largest online retailer in Romania, saw its highest sales yet during the Black Friday campaign organized in Romania last Friday, November 17. More important, however, the retailer also saw significant changes in consumer behavior compared to previous editions.

The retailer registered sales of RON 360 million (some EUR 77.5 million) during Black Friday 2017, a figure that is 20% higher than last year. The Romanians purchased products worth more than EUR 30 million in the first two hours of the campaign.

eMag had 8.3 million visits on its website on Black Friday, the Romanians ordering 1.1 million products. More than 30% of the orders were paid online by card, up from 26% in 2016.

“The main phenomena we recorded during Black Friday 2017 are: mobile dominance, historical leap of card payments, and customer orientation towards higher-end products. The shopping mall in the people's pockets, the smartphone, became the easiest and most effective way to buy online products, with a share of over two-thirds of Black Friday's total visits,” said Tudor Manea, general manager eMag.

The highest increases in the average value of the ordered products were recorded in categories such as mobile phones, gaming and PCs, furniture, TVs, audio and video products, small appliances, fashion, and cosmetics. The main categories with increasing demand, reported to last year, were fashion, personal care, tires, and TVs.

The eMag Marketplace platform also saw better results this year, selling 258,000 products worth more than RON 65 million (EUR 14 million).

Fashion Days, an online fashion retailer affiliated to eMag, recorded sales of RON 26.2 million (EUR 5.7 million), up 50% over last year. Some 65% of the 300,000 orders from clients came from the mobile app.

eMag's 2017 Black Friday sales campaign was organized on November 17. The online retailer was the first to bring this international concept to Romania in 2011.

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Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com