E-commerce in Bosnia and Herzegovina

E-commerce

E-commerce market

E-commerce is not well developed in Bosnia. Citizens and businesspeople generally do not shop or conduct business on the internet. Many companies maintain websites, but ordering online through use of a credit card is very rare. According to a research study carried out by students at the Burch University in Sarajevo, the reason e-commerce has not taken off in Bosnia is not infrastructural nor technological but cultural. They point out that the technologies needed for the implementation and development of e-commerce in the country are available, and online shops do exist in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the population is not yet accustomed to shopping online. However, internet users are willing to pay for content. That same study showed that 65% of the internet users they interviewed had paid to download or access some kind of online content from the internet including music, software and apps. As for the methods of online content access, the majority of the internet users pay for subscription services (23%), versus downloading an individual file (16%), or accessing streaming content (8%). Still, the biggest segment online is the financial sector, with many commercial banks offering e-banking to their clients. Mobile devices are not yet used for doing business online as much as in other more developed countries, mainly due to high mobile internet service prices. The fastest-growing e-commerce pages in Bosnia are Mbuy, eKupi.ba and citydeal.ba. Bosnia was one of the last countries in the region to develop and adopt a major law and related regulations regarding e-business.