When we mention e-commerce in Serbia, many people immediately think of mistrust: "Am I supposed to give someone my credit card number?" "Can I order a product with just a few clicks from my sofa?" "What if it's a scam?" These are some of the questions we often hear. E-commerce is a multidisciplinary field that involves much more than sharing personal data and a few clicks. Consumer protection, logistics, customs procedures, and electronic payments are just some aspects of e-commerce that pose challenges to its development in Serbia and must be addressed for our country to keep up with global trends. When developing all e-commerce segments, it is necessary to consider all barriers that slow down its progress, focus on building consumer trust, and create a better business environment for online merchants.
Serbia experienced a boom in e-commerce in 2022. In the first three quarters of the previous year, there were 29 million transactions, a 38.32% increase compared to the same period in 2021. Furthermore, the Law on Trade has been improved with amendments related to e-commerce and an action plan has been developed to strengthen e-commerce, but is that enough? According to the European E-commerce and Omni-channel Trade Association's 2022 report, Serbia ranks last in Europe in terms of the share of e-commerce in gross domestic product and among the lowest in Europe in terms of the percentage of the population buying online, with only 53% of the population being online shoppers. In comparison, in Germany, the largest e-commerce market in Europe, the average internet spending per capita in 2022 was €4,149, while in Serbia, it was only €59.81. What are the reasons for the underdevelopment of e-commerce in Serbia, and how can the state help remove all the barriers that hinder growth on both the supply and demand sides? These are just some of the questions that need to be addressed.
The starting point on the supply side is providing support and education to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia, which make up 99% of the Serbian market. The SME sector is crucial for a strong and healthy economy. Nowadays, SMEs in Serbia face numerous challenges due to the turbulent and demanding business conditions imposed by the development of new technologies that affect their survival. SMEs need to keep up with market trends and adapt to the changes set by the market, which is why it is necessary to enable them to sell their products online. According to the research team that worked on the project "Strengthening e-commerce in the Republic of Serbia," supply-side respondents cited a lack of education and information about establishing and running this type of business, unclear regulations related to e-commerce, and lack of knowledge about exporting goods abroad as the main barriers to the development of online stores. This data suggests the need to create guides and instructions to facilitate online business for merchants. Sellers need to be informed about all the advantages of e-commerce, primarily the savings they can achieve by not renting a physical store, protection in the workforce, and the ease of using online marketing on social media platforms, which have become an indispensable form of advertising today.
The new Law on Electronic Commerce adopted in 2019 envisaged the establishment of an institute responsible for issuing certificates to reliable merchants in the future. It is necessary to reward such merchants and encourage others to follow in the footsteps of those with a quality and success certificate in the field of e-commerce.
In Serbia, there is no exact data on how many companies conduct online commerce because appropriate registries still need to be for this information. Additionally, there is a significant number of unregistered entities that trade using social media, which is an ideal channel for advertising and finding customers. Surprisingly, even in Serbia, 60% of online purchases are paid in cash. We are all witnesses to the fact that when shopping online, we are often unsure if the merchant is registered, and unwittingly, we become part of the informal economy, which hinders development. In this situation, we have two problems: firstly, registered merchants who sell their products without fiscal receipts, and secondly, unregistered merchants who need help to track down. The Law on Electronic Commerce in Serbia, which came into effect in 2019, introduced the right for inspectors to act as Mystery Shoppers. This is a significant step in combating the informal economy concerning registered merchants. Still, more is needed to combat unregistered merchants who can hide their identities on social media. To address this kind of sales, we as consumers must think twice about who we buy products from.
When considering the consumer side as a critical barrier, mentioning consumers' distrust in online transactions is essential. This problem arises due to inadequate knowledge of consumers about their rights and choosing an online store. Consumers need to be sure that when purchasing from registered online stores, there is no possibility of being deceived. I believe that Serbian consumers still fear credit card abuse, so they often pay cash on delivery even when they buy from a verified merchant. This fear can sometimes be exploited by registered merchants who sell products without issuing fiscal receipts. Another essential aspect that consumers should be aware of is that their online shopping rights are the same as when buying in physical stores. They can withdraw from a purchase without any explanation within 14 days and return the product within 30 days of purchase. It's necessary to consolidate all this information from the Consumer Protection Act into one place and create a guide for consumers that is understandable to all categories of citizens.
Courier services play a crucial role in e-commerce. The delivery quality and timing often need to meet consumers' expectations. The unreliability of courier services affects the entire e-commerce process that consumers create. The logistics segment in our country has significant room for modernization. Solving this problem lies in alternative delivery methods. An ideal example of one of these delivery methods is self-service lockers, first introduced by Amazon. Self-service lockers allow consumers to pick up their packages at the nearest location without phone calls from couriers. Couriers often return boxes if they need help finding parking in front of our building or if we don't answer their first call.
The development of e-commerce depends on all of us. How many times have you entered a store, and when the salesperson asks if you need assistance, you say you are just browsing? During this browsing, we look for the desired product and wait to buy it until we are sure it's what we want. The same behaviour should be applied to online shopping. For Serbia to continue its growth trend in e-commerce and be on par with the global market, we must not allow ourselves to browse global trends. Serbia must not remain at that stage. We need to explore and adopt everything that will elevate e-commerce in our country to the level of global trends.
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