Top 50 CEE Online Exporters 2024

How the top 50 Online Exporters in the CEE region perform? – report by Growww Digital

The „Top 50 Online Exporters in the CEE Region” report by Growww Digital analyzes the performance of e-commerce exporters in Central and Eastern Europe. While the sector experienced 30-50% growth during the COVID-19 period, this dropped below 10% in 2022-2023 before recovering to a median growth rate of 16% in 2023-2024. Allegro remains the region’s largest e-commerce player, while Inspio is the smallest, and the Hungarian Pepita achieved an impressive 37x revenue increase over five years. The study emphasizes the importance of focusing on profitability, highlighting the need for improved efficiency and sustainable growth models for e-commerce businesses in the region.

The Central and Eastern European (CEE) e-commerce sector has rebounded from its low point, experiencing a median year-over-year growth rate of 16% in 2023-2024. While growth during the COVID-19 period reached 30-50%, it slowed to below 10% in 2022-2023 before recovering.

The region’s largest e-commerce player remains Allegro, while the smallest among the top 50 is Inspio. Notably, Hungary’s Pepita saw an impressive 37-fold revenue increase over the past five years. However, only one-third of the top 50 companies managed to achieve positive revenue growth every year over the last five years—though most have now emerged from losses. Other significant fast-growing players include GymBeam and Kulina.

The leading e-commerce companies in the region adopt a global mindset, expanding rapidly and testing new markets. Many reach their break-even point within a year and actively seek new sales channels, such as marketplaces and brick-and-mortar stores. They are also investing heavily in influencer marketing and enhancing their product and value offerings. However, not all strategies have succeeded—Dedoles, for example, pursued an aggressive growth strategy but struggled with rising advertising costs and declining product quality, leading to setbacks.

Profitability has become a key focus, with companies like Rohlik demonstrating successful profit growth. Many other players have followed suit, prioritizing efficiency and shifting to sustainable growth models. This has involved leveraging AI for process automation, reducing costs, and improving operational effectiveness. As a result, the CEE e-commerce landscape is evolving, with companies striving to balance rapid expansion with financial sustainability.

„There was a huge tailwind during the pandemic, everyone could feel like a superhero. But this also had its downside, as it was just the wind blowing strongly into the sail. Now we have to row and steer.”

-László Szabó, managing partner of Growww Digital said.

According to Growww Digital, profitable growth can come two ways: efficiency and revenue growth. The latter can be split into three parts: channel expansion (e.g. marketplaces), territorial expansion (opening up new countries) and product range expansion.