(continued from the previous issue)

Croatia

In Croatia, the internet population is more than 2.4 Million users aged 15+ and the internet penetration rate is 64%. As in the majority of the other Balkan countries, the level of engagement in browsing the web is decreasing. In December 2013 an average internet user spent online approximately 3 hours 9 minutes less, than in December 2012.

On the other hand, mobile traffic is at a constant rise and here we have the highest value from the region, 20%. The long-awaited boom of mobile has come to Croatia, although it is not yet reflected in the mobile advertising budgets.

If we analyze the profile of users, there are more male internet users (53%), than female ones (47%). A quite great share of male young users- 33%- aged 12-24 play computer games, while 20% of female internet users aged 25-34 browse about maternity related subjects. 50% of the internet population is medium educated, having graduated only from high school and only 19% are highly educated.

Croatia has seen the fastest rise in e-commerce in the European Union according to the 9th annual Consumer Conditions Scoreboard released by the European Commission. In the past 3 years, people interested in online shopping grew in both absolute numbers and in reach. This means that not only the new generations are interested in the subject, but also more and more of the existing users get involved in online shopping. On the other hand, the e-commerce sector is still in its infancy and only 23% of the online population buys online versus the 45% average in the EU.

When it comes to ranking the most visited websites by Croatians, the leading position was lost by the horizontal portal, index.hr, which now is closing top 3 ranking with 40% reach. However, Croatians still spend plenty of time on this website - on average 3 hours 3 minutes monthly per user. First place in the ranking belongs to 24sata.hr with 48% reach. Jutarnji.hr entered in December 2013 top 3 ranking most popular websites in Croatia overtaking index.hr and gathering 102 799 more users than in December 2012.

Romania

Romania is the biggest Balkan country in terms of online audience. In December 2014 the total internet population reached 9.3 Million users, while the internet penetration rate was 55%.

Although the internet penetration rate in Romania is still among the lowest in the region, there is a visible growing trend of specialized foreign investments into the Romanian online market. The level of investments is still rather low, compared to more mature markets. Advertising money is playing a diminishing role in business plans as businesses are focusing on revenues gathered directly from the end user. In the past months the advertising investments in Romania grew mainly thanks to big online players who are focusing more on traffic generation and conversion and less on branding effect. However, traditional advertisers have refined their online communication with more advanced formats that deliver better impact for branding.

Romanian internet users mostly live in urban areas (67%). Trivial subjects such as adult content, gambling and piracy are still hot among users. There are more female users (54%), than male users (46%), but they are equally active online. Female users aged 25 to 35 are very much interested in lifestyle and fashion, that’s why  clothes and accessories online shopping is quite developed in Romania. The age segment 25 to 45 comprises half of the online population and 78% of users are medium and highly educated.

Mobile traffic has increased in Romania from 1% in January 2011 to 9% in June 2014.  It has developed constantly, not in a giant leap, but rather through a steady growth in terms of mobile penetration, mobile business and time spent by users on mobile devices. However, in terms of advertising money, mobile ad spend is done mostly by pioneering initiatives rather than strategic focus. Nonetheless, a slow but steady growth in budgets is expected in the following months. Mobile is perceived more as a part of the development process experienced by the entire digital sphere rather than a medium competing with desktop. Looking from this perspective, mobile brings new opportunities to online business, opportunities that today are up for grabs, but tomorrow, one will hardly find an uncrowned spot.

59% of internet users in Romania are online shoppers- 23% being frequent buyers and 36% light buyers. The most popular uses of e-commerce are shopping on Romanian sites (60%), searching for desired products and services online (54%) and using price comparison sites (50%).  

Romanians buy online mainly clothes and accessories (58%), consumer electronics (47%), movies, books and music (44%), and gadgets such as smartphones and tablets (42%). Based on users’ interest in future purchases, electronic products will continue to dominate the e-commerce scene, while interest in previously dominant categories will suffer from disillusionment by customers: clothing and accessories (-18pp), computer and hardware (-11pp), books, film and music (-7pp). While interest in clothing and accessories is declining among experienced e-shoppers, for those with no previous online shopping experience, it ranked as the most interesting category, followed by electronics categories. It can be said that clothes and electronics are the “gateway products” to online shopping.

By far the most preferred payment option of Romanian e-shoppers is cash on delivery – 4 in 5 users indicating it among their preferred options. Not surprisingly, delivery via courier service ranks highest among all other delivery options, but Romanian users don’t reject delivery methods specific to certain products, such as digital delivery.

In the future we can expect growth in the e-commerce segment, with 40% of current online shoppers anticipating an increase in their spending and only 1 in 5 users indicating decreasing spending for the following year.

As far as the most popular websites in Romania are concerned, the audience data are convergent to the trends in the region, therefore big, global websites are among the first in the ranking: Google, Facebook and Yahoo open the ranking, with respectively 88%, 80% and 73% reach. Fourth place belongs to Youtube, Google’s global video content site. Online video content is becoming more popular in the whole CEE region and Romania is not an exception here.

Serbia

Serbia is another Balkan country where the internet usage is still in the development phase. In December 2013 the total internet population numbered 3 million users. It means that half of the country’s population aged 15+ has access and uses the internet. The penetration rate is 50%- among the lowest in the region.

Apart from the steady growth of internet population in Serbia we can observe a gradual increase in the users’ involvement in browsing the web. In 2013 in comparison to 2012, an average Serbian internet user spent 1 hour 17 minutes online longer and generated, on average, 54 page views more.  

Serbia is the second country in the region after Croatia with the highest share of mobile traffic. In June 2014 16% of all traffic was generated through mobile devices. Still those numbers are not as impressive as in western countries where mobile traffic is exceeding 30%, but we are expecting its further dynamic growth in the following years.

84% of Serbian internet users live in urban areas. The gender distribution is proportional: 51%, female users and 49%, male users. Young men, aged 15-24 are interested in sports, while female users from the same age segment listen to music and are interested in college life. Users aged 25 to 44 represent 50% of the online population and 83% of users are medium and highly educated.

The online shopping segment grows steadily, due to increase in both internet population and internet consumption. Classified Ads & online video mark the highest growth and the share of people shopping online is 26%. According to The National Bank of Serbia, in 2013 Serbian online shoppers have spent almost 62 million Euro paying products and services by credit/debit card on foreign websites and only 8.8 million Euro paying on Serbian websites. That is 7 Euros spent abroad for each Euro spent in Serbia.

Blic.rs, a horizontal portal focusing on providing current news, consolidated its market position as the leader in 2013 and reached 53% of Serbian internet population. In December 2013, the second place belonged to Kurir-info.rs; as a result this news portal overtook the service b92.net, which in December 2013 reached 32% of Serbian audience. However the most engaging portal from top 10 ranking most popular websites in terms of time spent is auto portal polovniautomobili.com – an average user spends on this website 2 hours 47 minutes online monthly.