Romanian eMag gets higher than expected Black Friday sales, with peaks of 1,600 orders a minute

Romania's largest online retailer eMag.ro was overwhelmed by orders on Black Friday last week, even though it had doubled the stocks compared to last year. The retailer sold EUR 12 million worth of products on Friday, 20 percent over the company's estimations, and sales continued during the week-end, adding EUR 3.7 million to the revenues. The retailer sold its discounted stock in just four hours after opening sales on Friday morning. At peak moments, it event received 1,600 orders a minute. In total, it sold 120,000 products of all categories. “We took the same number of orders in four hours as traditional retailers have in three days […],” said Radu Apostolescu, vice-president of eMag. The retailer had to add more products to the discounted stock two times after the initial stock was sold. The final stock – some 120,000 products – had been negotiated with suppliers for about eight months before Black Friday. Total discounts applied on this products reached EUR 5 million. The retailer currently has 140 people working in its warehouse to deliver the products. They will be working for seven days, in three shifts a day. The retailer runs showrooms as well, but on Black Friday it only sold via its website. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: eMag.ro's blog)