Doing Business On-Line – New Trends in Serbia

Belgrade, Dec. 21, 2009 (Serbia Today) - In coming years the Internet could become the work place for over 100,000 Serbian workers and the office space for over 18,000 new Serbian companies, according to the Boston Consulting Group; provided, that is, consumers become acclimated to doing business other than face to face and legislators modernize old business laws.
Over the past five years the Information Technology sector has been the fastest growing part of the Serbian economy. Since 2003 more than 4,600 IT businesses have been started, employing over 27,000 people. Included among the many success stories of on-line businesses in Serbia today are www.eKapija.com, a business news portal, www.infostud.com, an employment agency, and www.selo.com, a tourist agency.
The advantages of doing business on line and particularly selling retail products on-line rather than face to face are becoming recognized in Serbia today by entrepreneurs and consumers alike. Serbia. There is, for example, no need for office space, stores, extensive inventory and a large supporting labor force. Everything is seen and done in the virtual space of the website page, instantly, worldwide. An on-line retail business is about 46% cheaper to operate than a classical retail business.
In most European countries today on-line sales account for over 33% of all retail sales. In Serbia that percentage is below 7%, in part because of consumer reluctance and in part because of antiquated business legislation. For example, many retailers still cannot utilize credit cards for on-line transactions until enabling legislation just recently enacted by the Serbian Parliament is fully implemented.