MerchantPro Compass: eCommerce order volumes stagnate in the first six months of 2026. Vertical performance diverges, ranging from +42% to −20%

MerchantPro data, based on a sample of online stores active on the platform in both periods analysed, shows that in the first six months of 2026, sales value increased by 4% year-on-year, while the number of orders remained flat. Performance across verticals, however, varied significantly. Electronics, Gadgets and Accessories advanced by more than 42% in sales value, supported by a 35% increase in the number of orders. Pharma recorded a 30% increase in order volume, while average order value remained virtually unchanged, making it the only major vertical in the sample to follow this pattern. Beauty, by contrast, posted the steepest decline in transactions during the first half of the year, at nearly 20%. Fashion remained stable, with variations of less than 3% across both indicators.

The comparison is based on a constant pool of merchants active in both periods and therefore reflects genuine changes in consumer behaviour rather than the expansion of the merchant base on the platform.

Verticals moving in opposite directions

The aggregate figures conceal substantial differences. The strongest growth in the first half of the year came from Electronics, Gadgets and Accessories, which increased by 42% in sales value and 35% in the number of orders. Growth was driven simultaneously by a higher number of buyers and a higher average order value, suggesting that technology purchases remained a priority even during a year marked by cautious consumption. Part of the increase may be explained by replacement cycles postponed in 2025, when political and fiscal uncertainty pushed major purchasing decisions into 2026.

Pharma followed a different pattern: sales value increased by 26%, while the number of orders rose by more than 30%, with average order value declining slightly from €29 to €28. It is the only category growing exclusively through volume, without an increase in average order value.

Sporting Goods and Food Products increased by more than 10% in sales value, supported mainly by growth in the number of orders. Books & Music recorded a similarly positive performance, up 16% in value, but this increase was generated almost entirely by an 11% rise in average order value, most likely caused by last year's increase in the VAT rate applied to publishing products, which was gradually reflected in retail prices.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Beauty recorded the steepest decline of the first half: −20% in sales value and −21% in the number of orders. Average order value remained virtually unchanged, indicating that consumers are not shifting towards cheaper products but are effectively reducing purchase frequency, with cosmetics among the first categories to be cut back or postponed when household budgets come under pressure.

Children's Products followed a similar trajectory, declining by 8% in value and 18% in orders, although the segment is most likely being affected by strong competition from non-EU platforms. Toys are products with short life cycles, where price plays a decisive role in purchasing decisions. In recent years, international Asian platforms have built a highly competitive offering in this segment, and the migration of part of the demand towards non-local channels is most likely the main factor behind the negative performance. The data indirectly supports this hypothesis: while the number of orders fell by 18%, average order value increased by 11%, suggesting that the lower-priced toy segment has largely migrated towards non-local channels, while higher-value purchases have remained with local online stores.

Fashion remains the largest vertical by number of orders and recorded an almost flat performance, with sales value down 1% and orders down 2%. Home & Deco grew by nearly 4%, driven exclusively by a 7.5% increase in average order value, while the number of transactions declined by 3%.

B2B: more orders, lower values

In the B2B vertical, order volume increased by 29% in the first half of the year and by almost 40% in the second quarter. Average order value, however, declined by 13%. This combination suggests either that existing customers are splitting their purchases into smaller, more frequent orders or that the segment is expanding towards smaller B2B customers with lower transactional budgets.

An uneven first half. June brings signs of recovery.

Average order value consolidated at €57, up 5% compared with last year. Monthly performance was uneven: the first quarter began with a decline in January, followed by a gradual recovery in February and March, while the second quarter brought a visible acceleration that culminated in June.

June's performance could signal that the market is returning to growth. It was the strongest month of the first half, with both sales value and order volume increasing significantly, by 12.5% and 6.2%, respectively. Part of this growth, however, can be attributed to a base effect: June 2025 was affected by post-election tensions and announcements regarding the VAT increase, which prompted many consumers to postpone major purchases.

A cautious consumer, but with signs of easing pressure

The pattern observed during the first half of the year, with sales growth driven almost entirely by an increase in average order value and declines in categories where purchases can be postponed, reflects the combined effects of the liberalisation of energy prices in July 2025 and the VAT increase, which fuelled inflation and eroded Romanian consumers' purchasing power.

Starting in the third quarter of this year, some of the inflationary pressure should ease as the base effects generated by these measures begin to drop out of the calculations.

"The data confirms what we were seeing at the beginning of the year: the market is no longer growing uniformly, but selectively. Pharma and electronics have one thing in common: demand is supported by a constant underlying need. In categories where purchases are more impulse-driven and can easily be postponed, demand is contracting. The third quarter will show whether the signs of easing seen in June translate into stronger demand or whether polarisation becomes the market's new normal." said Arthur Rădulescu, CEO of MerchantPro.

The first-half results are in line with the trend described in the MerchantPro eCommerce Insights 2026 report, according to which the Romanian eCommerce market exceeded €8.1 billion in 2025 and is expected to surpass €8.5 billion in 2026, representing anticipated growth of approximately 5%, amid cautious consumption and the expansion of international platforms from outside the European Union. Estimates regarding the total size of the market combine proprietary platform data with public sources and macroeconomic indicators.

*This is a press release. ...