Bulgaria

High inflation continued to impact retail in Bulgaria in 2023, though growth in retail prices did ease. As such, though current value sales increased, there was a fall in constant value sales, as continuing rising costs hit profit margins, and also…

Homeshopping sales in Bulgaria are generated primarily from TV shopping, making the channel heavily dependent on the state of TV advertising in the country. Towards the end of the review period, the two leading broadcasters, Nova and bTV, introduced…

E-commerce (goods) had been expanding at a rapid rate in Bulgaria even before the onset of the pandemic, but COVID-19 accelerated this trend, with retail constant value sales (2021 prices) almost doubling between 2019 and 2021. With non-essential…

The number of traditional grocery retailers was in decline even before the onset of the pandemic, and COVID-19 has accelerated this trend by making many local consumers more price sensitive. Moreover, traditional grocery retailers face increased…

The share of e-commerce (goods) retail value sales accounted for by mobile e-commerce is rising rapidly. Indeed, it almost doubled between 2018 and 2021, approaching 40% during the latter year. As with e-commerce in general, demand for mobile…

Having plunged by a fifth during 2020 when they were forced to close for an extended period due to COVID-19 restrictions, the constant value sales (2021 prices) of home and garden specialist retailers rebounded very strongly in 2021 – exceeding their…

In contrast to most other non-grocery retail specialists, the rate of growth in constant value sales (2021 prices) of health and beauty specialist retailers accelerated during 2020 and 2021. Heightened local consumer interest in health and wellness…

Food and drink e-commerce remained among the top-performing categories in Bulgarian e-commerce during 2021. During the review period prior to the onset of the pandemic, busy lifestyles and rising demand for convenience were the main drivers for food…