Cross-Border Opportunities in the CEE Region

Marcin Pondo is the Co-Founder & Expert of Cross-Border Commerce Association and Managing Director of CrossBorder24, where he supports the international expansion of eCommerce companies across Europe, with a particular focus on Hungary and other CEE markets: Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Czech, Slovakia, Poland, as well as West Europe and USA.

With 15+ years of experience in eCommerce, Marcel Majsan is the founder and president of eCommerce Hrvatska, the first and only eCommerce association in Croatia. Since 2015, he has been working to provide market insights, education, and build a transparent, profitable ecosystem for online merchants and service providers.

Michal Helcman is CCO and Supervisory Board Member at euShipments Slovakia, part of the euShipments Group. He has extensive experience in eCommerce logistics, fulfillment, and cross-border delivery solutions, with a strong focus on business development and strategic partnerships. As part of the management team of euShipments Slovakia, he contributes to the company’s regional growth strategy by helping eCommerce businesses expand more efficiently across Central and Eastern Europe, and beyond.

Maher Tarazi is the founder and CEO of Altexpress. After working across Asia and the Middle East in logistics and FMCG roles with multinational companies, he chose to leave the corporate path and build his own business. He founded Altexpress in 2015 and grew it from the ground up into a technology-driven courier and e-fulfillment company, applying real operational experience to help eCommerce businesses scale efficiently across markets.

As Business Development Manager at CrossBorder24 and Local Community Manager at the Cross-Border Commerce Association (CBCA), Márk Török supports eCommerce businesses in their international expansion through a comprehensive approach and scalable solutions across areas such as logistics and fulfillment, customer service, translation and localization, marketplace management, and more.

The panel discussion explored the current state of cross-border eCommerce across Central and Eastern Europe, highlighting the opportunities, operational challenges, and evolving customer expectations in markets such as Romania, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Balkans overall. The speakers shared practical insights from their local markets, focusing on marketplaces, logistics, trust, localization, AI adoption, and changing consumer behavior.

Cross-Border Growth Continues Across the Region

The panel began with an overview of how eCommerce markets across CEE are evolving.

According to the speakers:

• cross-border commerce continues to grow rapidly
• marketplaces are becoming increasingly dominant
• and sellers are expanding into multiple channels simultaneously.

In Romania, Maher Tarazi explained that businesses are no longer relying solely on their own online stores:

• many brands now combine marketplaces, DTC stores, and even offline channels
  to achieve growth.

At the same time:

• parcel locker networks
• local delivery infrastructure
• and AI-driven commerce tools
  are expanding quickly across markets like Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Marketplaces Are Accelerating Cross-Border Expansion

One of the strongest themes throughout the discussion was the growing role of marketplaces in regional expansion.

The panelists highlighted platforms such as:

• Amazon
• eMAG
• Zalando
• About You
• Temu
• Skroutz
• and Allegro
  as key growth channels for sellers entering new markets.

Maher Tarazi noted that:

marketplaces allow brands to scale much faster,

but businesses must avoid competing only on price or reselling identical products already available everywhere.

Instead, successful sellers focus on:

• differentiation
• private label products
• and strong brand positioning.

Differentiation Is Becoming Critical

The speakers repeatedly emphasized that:

unique products and strong branding are becoming essential for success.

Maher Tarazi explained that:

• saturated markets still offer opportunity
• but only for brands that stand out clearly from competitors.

He pointed to examples of Bulgarian brands successfully expanding internationally because they:

• built recognizable identities
• invested in branding
• and positioned themselves beyond pure price competition.

The panel agreed that:

generic products competing only on price struggle to survive,

especially against large international marketplaces and Asian platforms like Temu.

Trust and Localization Matter More Than Ever

Another major topic was:

trust.

Marcel Majsan discussed how consumers increasingly verify:

• reviews
• company details
• social proof
• and local credibility
  before purchasing from international sellers.

He explained that many buyers are still cautious when ordering cross-border, especially from unfamiliar brands.

Because of this:

• localized trust signals
• translated customer reviews
• local payment methods
• and recognizable delivery partners
  play a major role in conversion rates.

The discussion highlighted that:

localization is not just translation,

but adapting the entire customer experience to local expectations.

Delivery Speed Is Becoming a Competitive Requirement

Logistics and delivery expectations were another key discussion point.

Michal Helcman explained that in markets such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic:

• next-day delivery is increasingly considered standard
• two-day delivery is acceptable
• but three-day delivery is already perceived negatively.

The panelists emphasized that:

delivery speed directly impacts conversion rates,

especially for cash-on-delivery orders and emotionally driven purchases.

To remain competitive, sellers increasingly need:

• localized warehousing
• regional fulfillment
• and efficient last-mile delivery partners.

The discussion also covered:

• parcel lockers
• cash-on-delivery behavior
• and the growing importance of local logistics infrastructure.

Customer Behavior Still Differs Across Markets

The panel showed that despite European integration:

every market still behaves differently.

For example:

• COD remains dominant in many Balkan countries
• while prepaid orders are growing in some Western-oriented segments.

The speakers explained that:

• older generations still strongly prefer cash payments
• younger audiences are more comfortable with digital payments
• and niche-specific customer behavior affects fulfillment strategy significantly.

This means sellers must adapt:

• payment methods
• delivery models
• and customer communication
  for each market separately.

AI Is Becoming Part of Cross-Border Operations

AI was another important topic throughout the discussion.

The panelists shared that businesses are increasingly using AI for:

• content creation
• localization
• translation
• customer service
• campaign generation
• review management
• and market research.

At the same time, the speakers stressed that:

human oversight is still necessary.

AI can improve operational speed and reduce costs, but:

• localization still requires human review
• customer trust still depends on human interaction
• and expertise-driven communication cannot yet be fully automated.

The panel also discussed how AI is lowering operational barriers, allowing businesses to:

• test markets faster
• validate ideas more cheaply
• and expand internationally with lower upfront investment.

Cross-Border Success Requires Operational Flexibility

A recurring message throughout the discussion was that:

successful cross-border commerce requires constant adaptation.

The speakers explained that businesses must:

• test multiple markets
• experiment with logistics models
• adjust pricing
• localize communication
• and continuously optimize operations.

They also emphasized that:

• no single strategy works everywhere
• no universal logistics solution exists
• and every market requires different operational decisions.

Key Takeaways

The panel discussion highlighted that cross-border eCommerce in Central and Eastern Europe continues to grow rapidly, driven by marketplaces, improved logistics infrastructure, and increasing regional digital adoption.

The speakers agreed that:

• marketplaces are now essential growth channels
• localization goes far beyond simple translation
• and trust signals have become critical for international sales.

Another major insight was that:

differentiation is becoming more important than price alone.

Brands that build:

• unique positioning
• recognizable identity
• and localized customer experiences
  have significantly better chances of succeeding internationally.

The discussion also demonstrated that:

• delivery speed directly impacts conversions
• local fulfillment increasingly matters
• and logistics strategy must adapt to local buying behavior.

AI was identified as a major accelerator for:

• localization
• operational efficiency
• customer communication
• and market testing,
  but the panelists agreed that human oversight and trust-building remain essential.

Finally, the session reinforced that:

cross-border expansion is no longer optional for many regional sellers.

As competition intensifies and marketplaces dominate consumer attention, businesses that successfully combine localization, operational flexibility, trust, and technology will be best positioned for growth across the CEE region.

The presentation is not available for sharing.