2Performant analysis: Top five most sought-after product categories in e-commerce in 2021

The second pandemic year continues to mark the upward trend of e-commerce, and Romania retains its place in the top of the countries with the highest e-commerce sector growth, a market estimated at over 6 billion euros by ROSA – Romanian Online Stores Association. Operating at the intersection between digital marketing and online commerce, two markets registering sustained growth globally, the technology company 2Performant, the leader of the Romanian affiliate marketing market (listed on BSE’s AeRO market – stock symbol 2P), has confirmed these growth trends having brokered no fewer than 1.39 million sales for online stores on its platform in 2021.

According to data from the affiliate marketing platform 2Performant.com, the top of the product categories that recorded the highest number of sales in 2021 is led by Fashion with 363,300 sales, which translates into a 30 percent increase over the previous year. Considered by many experts to be the most mature online commerce category, Fashion reflects buying behaviors strongly influenced by the pandemic. Thus, if in 2020 Romanians bought clothes for home or sports and outdoor activities, in 2021 they returned to the purchase of street clothes and event attire (i.e. weddings, baptisms) or for office, but also shoes, amid the resumption of many social activities. At the same time, growing sales for products in this category have been noticed last autumn as well, along with the most important e-commerce sales event, Black Friday. Between November 1-14, 2021, the Fashion product category registered a 62.8 percent increase in the number of sales and an 86.3 percent increase in sales value, while the average shopping cart value was also 14,4 percent higher than the same period last year.

In second place in the top categories with the most sales in 2021 is the Book, Movies, and Music category, with 338,200 sales through the 2Performant.com platform, a 29,1 percent increase compared to 2020. The third place is occupied by Beauty with 145,400 sales, up 3.4 percent, while the Home and Garden category ranks fourth with 80,100 sales and a 46 percent increase. The Top 5 concludes with the Electronics IT&C category with 79,900 sales, up 11.4 percent compared to the previous year.

Romanians spend more online and buy mainly from mobile phones

In 2021, the average shopping cart value has also increased, reaching 52.6 euros, 5.8 percent more than in 2020. This means that Romanians have become accustomed to online shopping and continue to support the upward trend of this sector. Regarding the devices from which the online purchases are made, 2Performant data shows that 69 percent of them are made on mobile and only 29.8 percent on desktop. However, the average value of the mobile shopping cart is lower than the desktop one, 46.47 euros on mobile versus 66.67 euros on desktop respectively. This indicates that Romanians continue to make the more expensive purchases using a desktop.

“In 2021, the number of those who opted for online shopping has increased, and for those who had been brought online by the pandemic since 2020, the frequency with which they make online stores purchases has increased. Last year, we saw the online consumer paying more attention to the price, product features, delivery method, and product country of origin, as well as to the clarity of the return policy information. This tells us that buyers are generally spending more time researching the products they want, using two different devices: mobile and desktop. According to our platform data, we found that the affiliation projects providing added value to the Romanian consumers were the ones that either quickly led them to a better deal or offered them well-structured information,” said Raluca Negrea, 2Performant Country Manager Romania and Bulgaria.

In 2021, the in-house-developed 2Performant.com technology platform, through which digital marketing professionals collaborate with online stores, garnered 68.7 million clicks, 23.4 percent more than the previous year. This translates into over 5.7 million clicks per month, on average, sent to online stores. In terms of desktop traffic, the best day of the week, according to the number of clicks, was Wednesday, 11 o’clock being the best time for online shopping. At the same time, if we consider mobile traffic, Sunday was the best day of the week, according to the number of clicks, with 10 o’clock being the best for online shopping. The main source of traffic by the number of clicks remains Google, with 23.7 million clicks, up 65.3 percent from 2020, followed by Facebook with 7.7 million clicks, down 16.3 percent compared to the previous year.