Balkan markets love web push notifications – and other key insights on the market

Every year, while analyzing the data for our annual web push performance report, we notice the high CTR results achieved in the region of the Balkans. The results are impressive compared to other parts of Europe.

Today, we decided to take a closer look at the region. Are there some aspects that separate those countries and make the customers more interested in push notifications? 

Balkan e-commerce market overview

The e-commerce markets in the Balkan countries skyrocketed during the pandemic years and continue to grow. Moreover, they exhibit a higher growth rate than other European regions. According to the interview with Bogdan Shkarupa, the CEO and co-founder of NeuCurrent: 

• The Balkan e-commerce grows 20% year-to-year (vs. 8% in Europe)

• 8% of retail is online.

• 50% of the population are e-shoppers.

And according to the Regional Cooperation Council’s report, 21% of small and medium enterprises in the Western Balkans made online sales, compared to 18.5% in the European Union. 

High internet penetration and a sort of hunger for new goods that characterize those fast-growing markets make the customers receptive to all kinds of marketing communication. Especially if the content addresses the most important issues they express. For example, in Serbia, customers are reporting their displeasure with delivery speed. 

It’s not a coincidence that the highest-rated push notification in the Serbian store ePlaneta addressed the free delivery. 

Web push performance in the Balkans 

The CTR results in Serbia remain stable throughout the year, as shown in the 2024 statistics. They rarely fall below the 2% mark.

There’s a drive towards personalization. We can see that the CTRs of targeted campaigns is higher than mass campaigns. 

What’s more, it’s the Croatian company, Pevex, that sends the most-clicked automation of 2025. The price drop scenario introduced by Pevex reached an impressive 19.99% CTR. 

The data above was first published in our report. Download it to find other successful scenarios for personalized automations. 

Summary 

In the contemporary digital landscape, the one-size-fits-all approach brings more harm than good. Knowing local and regional characteristics, on the other hand, can only bring profit. 

That’s why we invite you to take a peek at our report: Web push notifications in e-commerce 2024, See the top-grossing web push notifications, statistics concerning the best hours and days, as well as seasonal changes in web push performance.