Belgium (Brussels Morning) In recent years, the rapid growth of e-commerce has had significant market impacts. The increased consumer demand for quick product deliveries has forced logistics companies to adapt to new conditions, which directly affect the environment, the line of production and market prices.
In North Macedonia, the E-commerce Conference is a moving force of several institutions, companies and experts to revolutionise the sector in the country and Southeast Europe. Dejan Srbinovski sat with Dr. Nina Angelovska, a recognized entrepreneur, founder, and business leader. She is also the former and first female Minister of Finance of the Republic of North Macedonia.
DS: The E-commerce Conference in North Macedonia has been organized for seven consecutive years, with this being the second year it has taken on a regional focus across the entire Western Balkans. How did the idea of organizing this increasingly attractive conference in the region come about? What are the key benefits it brings to the development of e-commerce in the region?
NA: In 2018, we organized the first edition of the E-commerce Conference, which was born out of the same motivations that led to the founding of the E-commerce Association in 2017. Both the association and the conference emerged as responses to the pressing challenges faced by businesses in this sectorâchallenges I encountered while leading Grouper.mk, a platform recognized as a “game-changer” in Macedonian e-commerce. The obstacles I faced while navigating regulatory and operational barriers inspired me to initiate discussions with the government about much-needed reforms. However, it became clear that a formal organization representing the e-commerce sector was necessary to drive real change. So, the challenges the sector was facing were the main drive for the foundation of the E-commerce Association.
The first E-commerce Conference was linked to this mission, providing a platform where all key stakeholdersâbusinesses, policymakers, and industry leadersâcould come together to discuss the state of e-commerce in North Macedonia, its growth, challenges, and opportunities. It also aimed to raise awareness about the untapped potential of e-commerce. Since then, the conference has become a cornerstone of our annual agenda, evolving from a national event into a regional one, drawing attendees from across the Western Balkans offering a rich program featuring expert speakers from around the world, and fostering valuable networking opportunities, all aimed at advancing e-commerce in North Macedonia and the wider region.
We often say that each year we compete with ourselves as we strive to make every edition better and bigger, creating a high-quality program that enables our attendees to learn new things, stay informed about the latest developments, build new relationships, and, of course, have fun and enjoy. This yearâs agenda will be delivered by domestic and regional speakers with vast experience, as well as international speakers from far more developed markets. We aim for a balanced mix of local and regional speakers who can share relevant experiences and challenges, while also including speakers from more developed markets who are far ahead of us, offering valuable insights into the latest and future trends. This year, we are excited to welcome speakers from OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT), Zalando, Klarna, Visa, and many other leading companies from both local and regional markets. The conference will be structured with keynote speeches, panel discussions, and case studies.
DS: What is the potential of e-commerce in North Macedonia compared to other countries in the Western Balkans? Could you provide a comparison between the Western Balkans and European countries when it comes to e-commerce growth and development?
NA: Every year at our E-commerce Conference we dedicate the first keynote talk in the program to presenting the key findings of our comprehensive E-commerce Analysis Reports that we have been publishing since 2018. This provides an overview of participants of the state of e-commerce, its progress, challenges, and priority action areas.
Each year, we gather both secondary and primary data to assess the state of e-commerce in North Macedonia, focusing on time-based and geographical comparisons. Our approach is holistic, examining all aspects of the e-commerce ecosystem. We identify the challenges and barriers faced by the e-commerce stakeholders and offer actionable recommendations to address them. This year, we have expanded the scope of our analysis to include the entire Western BalkansâAlbania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbiaâthrough the Western Balkan Ecommerce Report 2024, supported by the NLB Group. This expanded report provides a comprehensive view of the e-commerce landscape across the region, allowing for deeper insights into the collective challenges, opportunities, and growth potential that the Western Balkans hold for the e-commerce sector.
The growth of e-commerce in North Macedonia has been remarkable. In 2017, only 20% of internet users in the country engaged in online shopping, placing North Macedonia near the bottom of the European rankings, just ahead of Montenegro. By 2023, this figure surged to 53.5%, marking a significant 67.5% increase compared to 2017. When compared with other Western Balkan countries, North Macedonia now ranks ahead of Kosovo (51%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (41.3%), Albania (37.5%), and Montenegro (32.1%). However, all Western Balkan countries, except Serbia, remain at the bottom of the rankings within Europe. Serbia outperforms its regional peers with 64% of internet users shopping online, though it still lags the EU average of 75.3%.
The Western Balkan e-commerce markets share common challenges in purchasing behavior, as highlighted by secondary data and further confirmed by a survey of e-retailers. These challenges include low digital skills, a strong preference for cash on delivery as a payment method, and significant struggles with delivery. E-retailers also face issues such as disloyal competition caused by the grey economy, payment system difficulties, and a lack of skilled human resources. These barriers collectively hinder the growth and development of e-commerce across the region.
North Macedonia, like the rest of the Western Balkans, has substantial untapped potential in e-commerce. The region offers a significant market with a combined population of 16.6 million. However, various challenges remainâhigh customs duties, complex cross-border procedures, expensive shipping costs, and fragmented regulations pose significant barriers to the growth of e-commerce. These obstacles limit the full potential of cross-border e-commerce, which could otherwise drive significant growth and enable businesses to expand regionally.
Unlocking this potential requires addressing these structural barriers. By tackling these challenges, the e-commerce sector in North Macedonia and the broader Western Balkans could flourish, offering businesses new opportunities for economic growth and regional expansion.
DS: This yearâs conference has an interesting title: âE-commerce: Untangling Potential.â What are the biggest challenges that need to be overcome to untangle the full potential of e-commerce in the region?
NA: The Annual E-commerce Conference has become the leading event for e-commerce, growing over the past three years into the largest regional conference in the field, highlighting its significance in promoting e-commerce practices across the Balkans. This year’s seventh edition, under the theme “E-commerce: Untangling Potential,” will take place on November 12, 2024, at the National Opera and Ballet in Skopje. The conference will explore which aspects of e-commerce have already been “untangled” and address those that need to be solved to unlock the potential.
Based on our in-depth analysis of both secondary and primary data, the conference agenda has been carefully designed to tackle the key challenges identified in the e-commerce sector. The focus will be on critical topics such as innovations in delivery and logistics, new trends in e-payment solutions, strategies for effective e-commerce marketing, and approaches to cross-border expansion and international growth. These areas are crucial for overcoming existing barriers and unlocking the full potential of the e-commerce market.
Over the past year, the potential of the Western Balkans for e-commerce has attracted the attention of regional and global companies, many of which are expanding into multiple countries within the region. The entry of international players into new markets along with the growth of e-fulfillment centers demonstrate the significant rise of e-commerce in the Western Balkans. At the same time, as the market matures, consumer expectations are also rising, emphasizing the need for businesses to continually innovate to offer more choices and flexibility to the online shoppers.
DS: What is your associationâs impact on the development of e-commerce? What initiatives are you taking to address the challenges and increase the potential for industry growth, as well as to support the businesses you represent?
NA: The e-commerce ecosystem is complex, and its development requires a holistic approach. For seven years now, the Macedonian E-commerce Association has been representing the âvoice of e-commerceâ in the country, and its role became even more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic when e-commerce was not just a choice but a necessity for businesses to survive and mitigate the economic impact. We have been diligently working with targeted measures and activities to respond to the ongoing challenges that the sector is facing. Some of the main issues we have been addressing in recent years include the low level of digital skills, the grey economy in e-commerce, which creates unfair competition and undermines trust, the lack of a diverse e-commerce offering, and the challenges associated with cross-border e-commerce.
In addition to producing the Annual E-commerce Analysis and organizing the Annual E-commerce Conference, we are implementing numerous other projects and initiatives. To name someâwe launched the platform ecommerce4all.eu, which serves as a knowledge and resource center for e-commerce in the CEFTA region, and we established and operate the first and only Registry of E-retailers in North Macedonia. We also introduced a trust markâ âBadge for verified e-retailersâ, ensuring that consumers can trust these businesses.
Through our training programs, we have helped over 120 companies enhance their digital skills, and through grant calls to support the opening of online stores, we have supported more than 80 companies in starting to sell online. Our activities are supported by international development organizations, including USAID, GIZ, IME, the CEFTA Secretariat, IFC, UNCTAD, as well as the private sector.
Regarding the facilitation of cross-border e-commerce, we have been active in this field for several years, though progress has been slow. To contribute and try to speed up the progress, recently together with the e-commerce associations from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania we formed the Balkan E-commerce Alliance (BECA). It is an honor for me to lead the Balkan E-commerce Alliance as we lay its foundations that will represent the basis for further work and action. I hope that BECA will contribute to changes and facilitation of cross-border e-commerce and thus open the way for companies to expand regionally with e-commerce.
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