June 19 (SeeNews) - Romanian online retailer eMAG plans to invest over 120 million euro ($139 million) in 2018 into expansion of its marketplace network and delivery services and into a new logistics centre, the company said on Tuesday.
In order to help its marketplace sellers achieve better results, eMAG will launch two new services by the end of the year - eMAG Ads and eMAG Academy, offering webinars, training courses and conferences, it said in a press release.
Growing at a pace of 800 new integrated sellers each month, eMAG marketplace now unites over 10,000 sellers in Romania. At present, 50% of the products sold on eMAG come from the marketplace offer.
eMAG also plans to launch a number of new services this year in order to enhance the online shopping experience.
Starting June 25th, customers in Bucharest and Ilfov will be able to order until midnight with delivery the next day, including Saturdays and Sundays. On July 2, eMAG will introduce a fast delivery service for locations on the seaside.
eMAG will extend same-day delivery service in Bucharest and Ilfov County starting in August. In addition, starting October, eMAG customers will be able to buy their prepaid cards or feed their prepaid phone accounts using the website of the company.
The online retailer invested 63 million euro last year in logistics, technology, international development and employee training.
Turnover in Romania increased by 28% compared to the previous year, to 2.58 billion lei, and the sales of eMAG group rose to 4.06 billion lei. The number of customers which eMAG serves in the four countries in which it operates grew to 7.57 million.
"The number of customers and the turnover are a result of the long-term investment we have made in technology. We are at a time when eCommerce is growing at an accelerated pace globally and locally. We rely on technology and on our team and we will continue to invest in Romanian innovation: here we have the people, here we created the intellectual property and services that are a model for the other countries," eMAG CEO Iulian Stanciu said.
Currently, there are over 3.4 million products in the eMAG offer. In 2017, the highest rates of growth wre recorded in the categories of mobile phones, large and small home appliances, TVs, gadgets, toys, and automobile-related products. This year, eMAG sees a great potential for sales growth in fashion, sports, personal care and cosmetics, DIY, furniture and decorations.
eMAG was founded in 2001 by Romanian entrepreneurs, and later expanded to Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland. South Africa-based Naspers media group acquired a 70% stake in eMAG in 2012.
($= 0.8662 euro)