In the second quarter of this year, the citizens of Serbia in total, in dinars, euros and dollars, over the internet spent more than 540 million euros, she announced National Bank of Serbia. Adding, in addition, that this data does not include purchases of goods paid on cash on delivery, which the NBS does not have.
Citizens shop mostly in domestic online stores, NBS announced.
Most of the purchases are made with dinars, euros and dollars
Citizens made 19,2 million purchases on the Internet with cards and electronic money, which continued the year-on-year growth trend, which compared to the same quarter of the previous year is 36,1 percent, the National Bank of Serbia announced.
The number of online purchases made in dinars recorded a growth of 33,4 percent, while the value of those purchases increased by 34,6 percent compared to the second quarter of 2023. Observed in absolute terms, the value of transactions in dinars for three months amounted to 36,3 billion dinars, that is, about 309 million euros.
When it comes to internet transactions in euros, their value is around 184,7 million euros. In addition, Serbian citizens spent over 55 million dollars on the Internet. The total figure thus reaches around 548 million euros.
An explosion of shopping on the Temu app
One possible cause of the surge in online shopping is Temu, a Chinese app for online shopping which became in just a few months in Serbia a kind of phenomenon.
The theme is designed in such a way that it causes potential customers a certain amount of anxiety that they will miss the opportunity to order the goods during the time when there is a discount for those items, on the principle "you still have very little time left to buy these amazing products".
The result of this is extraordinary, because customers feel that it is very important to order something as soon as possible, as if their life depends on it. This also creates the impression of a kind of sports competition, because nothing is more logical than to think that you actually managed to "beat" the seller by being able to buy the product from him before the original price "returned".
In addition to this completely irrational urgency, Temu has another trump card - really very affordable, not to mention low prices, which the competition can hardly match, especially because Temu also offers free shipping.
New competitor – Shane
After the dizzying success of Temu, Serbia will Another Chinese online platform will soon appear for shopping – Shane.
Shane is primarily known for selling relatively inexpensive clothing, and the platform's success is due to its popularity among Gen Z consumers.
The use of Shane was made possible by the agreement that the Public Company Post of Serbia concluded with the Hungarian Post in mid-August.
The company stated that this agreement, and thus the use of the Shane application, will mean faster and easier delivery of goods for users, which will be delivered to the user's address within 72 hours after the completion of the customs control procedure.
It was also stated that the network of JP Pošta Srbije will expand from the current 500 to 1000 parcel machines intended for the delivery of parcels by the end of the year.
