The Balkan eCommerce Summit (BES) 2025, held in Sofia on April 29, delivered transformative strategies through inspirational and practical presentations on Stage Delta Cloud.
The speakers tackled AI-driven workflows, sustainable packaging, payment solutions, and leadership, offering eCommerce leaders actionable ways to boost productivity and growth in the Balkans and beyond.
Here’s a concise summary of key themes and practical recommendations from Stage Delta Cloud on Day 1 of the Balkan eCommerce Summit 2025.
AI Workflows: Skyrocketing Productivity
Iliya Valchanov from Team-GPT showcased AI’s potential to 10x productivity, comparing its impact to the internet’s rise. From campaign planning to social media posting, AI automates complex tasks like A/B testing LinkedIn ads or generating product descriptions.
Valchanov emphasized context-driven AI agents that stitch together workflows, while Gennadiy Vorobyov from Netpeak Bulgaria highlighted tools like Adobe Firefly for creating banners and turboscribe.ai for meeting transcriptions, saving hours weekly.
Take it home:
- Automate Marketing Tasks: Use AI for campaign planning (e.g., LinkedIn A/B tests) and content creation, ensuring clear prompts with personas and context.
- Leverage Design Tools: Adopt Adobe Firefly or Express for quick, compliant banner creation, using keywords from Adobe Stock for precision.
- Build AI Agents: Combine tools like turboscribe.ai and ChatGPT to automate meeting summaries and email management, targeting Inbox Zero.
Sustainable Packaging: Driving Sales and Trust
Nikolay Kochmalarski and Tanya Stoyanova from DS Smith highlighted corrugated packaging’s “superpowers,” noting that 39% of shoppers say packaging influences repeat purchases, while 71% expect sustainable options.
Innovations like DS Smith’s Paper Pull and Safe Sender reduce plastic and enhance security, aligning with the EU’s PPWR regulation (effective 2025). Ivan Paspaldzhiev from EY denkstatt stressed verifiable green claims, using ecolabels like FSC to prove sustainability and avoid greenwashing, with 74% of Millennials willing to pay more for sustainable products.
- Adopt Circular Packaging: Use 100% recyclable solutions like DS Smith’s Paper Pull to meet PPWR’s 50% empty space limit by 2030.
- Verify Green Claims: Secure third-party ecolabels (e.g., FSC, Nordic Swan) with life-cycle assessments to build trust and comply with the 2028 Green Claims Directive.
- Educate Consumers: Display ecolabels and CO2 calculators (e.g., BACT Textile Eco-Calculator) on product pages to boost loyalty.
Payment Solutions: Overcoming Balkan Barriers
Adin Mulaahmetovic from Power Commerce addressed the Balkans’ unique eCommerce challenges, where over 50% of shoppers prefer cash on delivery (COD) and cart abandonment exceeds 80% due to clunky payments.
Their partnership with Shoplazza and Monri offers a full-stack solution with localized payment options. Mulaahmetovic noted that aligning with regulations and offering flexible payments like COD and mobile apps can unlock Romania and Bulgaria’s 30%+ YoY growth.
Here’s how to do it too:
- Offer Diverse Payments: Integrate COD and mobile payment options to cater to Balkan preferences, reducing abandonment rates.
- Use Localized Platforms: Adopt Shoplazza for user-friendly stores with native apps and compliance tools tailored to Balkan regulations.
- Optimize Load Times: Ensure sites load in under 3 seconds to prevent 53% of users from bouncing, boosting conversions by 7% per second saved.
Expand Your Reach with Multilingual eCommerce
Silvi Nunez emphasized that 75% of shoppers prefer native-language websites. Effective localization goes beyond translation, covering cultural nuances, date formats, and currencies.
She advocated for subdirectories (e.g., website.com/es/) for SEO and combining machine translation with human proofreading for high-value content to balance cost and quality.
Her advice:
- Localize Holistically: Adapt visuals, currencies, and cultural elements (e.g., holidays) alongside text to enhance user experience.
- Optimize URL Structures: Use subdirectories for SEO benefits and local trust, conducting keyword research for each market.
- Blend Translation Methods: Apply machine translation for low-value content and human localization for product pages, ensuring transparency if using MT.
Clarity and Consistency Leads to Growth
Nektarios Zisis from GrowthPoint argued that growth starts with leadership, not strategy. His “Power of 5” habits – clarity, right tools, daily action, focus, and consistency – drive momentum.
Zisis recommended daily 30-minute focus blocks and asking, “What’s slowing us down?” to remove friction, ensuring teams align on one key goal daily:
- Set Clear Goals: Define one daily priority for yourself and your team to maintain focus and alignment.
- Simplify Tools: Audit tools to eliminate inefficiencies, prioritizing those that reduce noise and enhance performance.
- Stay Consistent: Reflect nightly on leadership wins and areas for improvement, committing to a 30-day challenge of daily action.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Future-Proofing Search
Max from Ecomtent.ai highlighted the shift to generative AI search, with 60% of US adults using chatbots like Amazon’s COSMO for product research.
Unlike traditional SEO, GEO focuses on intent-based matching and multimodal content (text, visuals). Optimizing for COSMO’s commonsense knowledge graphs and partnering with platforms like OpenAI can elevate visibility.
Here’s how:
- Optimize for Intent: Create content addressing user needs (e.g., subjective product preferences) to rank in AI-driven searches.
- Incorporate Visuals: Use high-quality images and videos, as GEO prioritizes multimodal understanding over keywords.
- Audit and Adapt: Regularly audit AI search performance and build CustomGPTs to align with platforms like COSMO or Rufus.
Stage Delta Cloud at BES 2025 revealed that eCommerce success combines cutting-edge tech with human insight. AI workflows and GEO boost efficiency, sustainable packaging and payments build trust, and leadership ensures momentum.
Start by testing one practice – AI automation, a green ecolabel, or a daily focus block – to drive growth in the Balkans’ booming market.
Visit balkanecommerce.com for updates on the next Balkan eCommerce Summit.