Ecommerce in Bulgaria

According to the latest data from the Bulgarian E-commerce Association (BEA), the market volume has doubled in four years. Bulgaria has set a record for internet sales in 2023, which has reached around EUR 2 billion, which is 19% more compared to 2022. It is expected that e-commerce will reach a share of 2,34% of Bulgaria’s GDP in 2024.

While many customers are hesitant to online payments, according to a 2022 survey of the BEA covering 4,5 million orders, 60% of the purchases were made with cash on delivery.

There is no general requirement that prevents foreign companies from conducting e-commerce business in Bulgaria. There is no need for a business entity to establish a local presence: products and/or services may be sold from abroad. However, foreign entities wishing to sell their goods/services online in Bulgaria may undertake such activity through a subsidiary or a local branch. Selling from abroad may require tax registration even without an established presence.

It is important to note that where the law of a Member State of the European Union is applicable to the distance contract, the consumers may not waive the rights conferred on them by the Bulgarian Consumer Protection Act. The consumers will also not lose the protection granted by the consumer protection legislation of a Member State, transposing the requirements of Directive 2011/83/EU where the distance contract is closely related with the territory of that Member State. The contract is closely linked to the Member State for instance where the trader directs their commercial activities to the territory of a Member State; (e.g. the website offers the respective Member State language version, or advertising or marketing is directed to consumers in the Member State).

In general, Bulgarian law allows business entities to freely participate in e-commerce business. Starting such activity does not involve any additional obligations in terms of licencing requirements as compared to traditional retail activity. In practice, there is no need to obtain any licence or permit to run an online store.

Specific rules may apply in the case of certain product categories, including an obligation to obtain a relevant authorisation (e.g. in the case of foodstuffs) or licence. However, these are product-specific requirements and apply to all sales channels. It is expressly prohibited to offer and sell medicinal products available on medical prescription by means of distance contracts.

Apart from the number of supply and logistic contracts in place, there are some specifics for setting up an own e-commerce platform that must be addressed.

Hosting services: Hosting services may be acquired as cloud servers, shared webhosting, virtual private servers and dedicated servers.

IT-related services: A smooth ordering process is one of the key elements of creating a good customer experience. In order to achieve this, the e-commerce business has to ensure an appropriate level of IT services.

Creative services: Sourcing creative services is required to set up a website, including both design and experience. In order to achieve this, the e-commerce business has to ensure an appropriate level of IT services.

Logistics: Logistics is the backbone of a successful e-commerce business. The logistics processes include in particular product sourcing, stock (inventory) management, order management, packaging, and delivery, as well as management of (and sometimes picking up) product returns. Companies may also conclude contracts with payment service providers.

E-commerce logistics may also be outsourced to a third-party logistics provider. A new alternative to the traditional logistics chain is drop shipping. In this model the e-commerce entity forwards customers’ orders to another company, which fulfils the orders by shipping the items directly to the customer on behalf of the e-commerce entity.

Payments: Agreement on processing online payments would be required. Cash on delivery remains a popular payment method. However, a wide array of electronic and non-cash payments are also available to e-commerce businesses. These include payments by various types of credit and debit cards, quick online transfers, electronic wallets, mobile money, and alternative currency payment processors.

These may be product-specific restrictions that apply in all sales channels – such as general foodstuff production and sales regulation. It is expressly prohibited to offer and sell medicinal products available on medical prescription by means of distance contracts.

It is important to consider all the requirements in place concerning the online sale of the particular products.

If the e-commerce website is directed to consumers, the key is to ensure that all consumer rights are observed. As per the Bulgarian Consumer Protection Act (CPA) the consumers are natural persons who acquire products or use services for purposes that do not fall within their commercial or professional activity, and any natural persons who, as a party to a contract under the CPA, act outside their commercial or professional activity.

There are significant differences as compared to B2B relations.

In particular the CPA contains specific requirements on the information that must be provided to the consumer before the consumer is bound by a distance contract. The information must be provided in Bulgarian, in a clear and comprehensible manner. Such information includes:

1. the main characteristics of the goods or services, to the extent appropriate to the medium and to the goods or services;
2. the name of the trader;
3. the registered head office and address of the trader; its telephone number and e-mail address; where the trader provides other means of online communication which ensure that the consumer can store on a durable medium any written correspondence with the trader, including the date and time of that correspondence, the information shall also contain a detailed description of those other means; the means of communication provided by the trader must enable the consumer to contact the trader quickly and to communicate effects;
4. the total price of the goods or services inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the goods or services is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated, as well as, information on all additional freight, delivery or postal charges and any other costs; the distance communication cost for the conclusion of the contract where that cost is calculated other than at the basic rate;
5. the arrangements for payment, delivery, performance, the trader’s complaint handling policy;
6. the conditions, time limit and procedures for exercising that right of withdrawal and the conditions on bearing the withdrawal costs, as well as the model withdrawal form;
7. a reminder of the existence of a legal guarantee of conformity for goods, digital content and digital services;
8. where applicable, the existence and the conditions of after sale customer assistance or services and commercial guarantees;
9. where applicable, the existence of relevant codes of conduct, where such codes are available and how copies of them can be obtained;
10. duration of the contract, where applicable, if the contract is of indeterminate duration or is to be extended automatically, the conditions for terminating the contract;
11. (xi) where applicable, the minimum duration of the consumer’s obligations under the contract;
12. where applicable, the existence and the conditions of deposits or other financial guarantees to be paid or provided by the consumer at the request of the trader;
13. where applicable, the functionality of the goods containing digital items, digital content and digital services, including applicable technical protection measures;;
14. where applicable, any relevant compatibility and interoperability of the goods containing digital items, the digital content and the digital services with certain types of hardware and software known or reasonably expected to be known to the trader;
15. where applicable, the possibility of having recourse to an out-of-court complaint and redress mechanism, to which the trader is subject, and the methods for having access to it;
16. where applicable, indicate that the price has been individualised on the basis of automated decision-making.

The information referred is an integral part of the distance contract and may not be altered unless both parties expressly agree.

Additional information shall be provided to the consumer prior to being bound by the distance contract or an offer to conclude a contract through an online marketplace, in a clear and comprehensible manner and in a form appropriate to the means of distance communication. ‘Online marketplace’ means a service using software, including a website, part of a website or an application, operated by or on behalf of a trader which allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with other traders or consumers. The information shall include:

1. general information on the main parameters determining the ranking of the proposals made to users in response to their search, as well as their relative importance compared to other parameters; the information is provided in a dedicated section of the online interface, which can be directly and easily accessed from the page where the proposals are presented;
2. whether the third party offering the goods, services or digital content is a trader or not, based on a declaration by the third party to the provider of the online marketplace;
3. notification that the consumers do not have rights under the CPA and other laws implementing requirements of European Union consumer protection law where the third party offering the goods, services or digital content is not a trader;
4. the allocation of contractual obligations between the third party offering the goods, services or digital content and the provider of the online marketplace, if applicable.

For all distant contracts, certain specific information must be displayed just before consumer clicks the ‘buy’ button. Such information will refer in a clear way to the characteristics of the goods or services, pricing and costs, the contract term and termination. The trader must ensure that the consumer, when placing their order, explicitly acknowledges that the order implies an obligation to pay. The button for placing an order must be labelled with the words ‘Order with obligation to pay’ or similar wording, clearly indicating  that placing the order entails an obligation to pay the trader.

It is also crucial that all consumer rights be observed before and after concluding a contract (e.g. with regard to product returns, liability for defective goods, etc.).

On the other hand, if a website is dedicated to businesses only (e.g. sale of equipment to professionals only) – consumer regulations will not apply, but in such case, it should be ensured that an online store is accessible to professionals only. Please refer to Section III.2. below.

Bulgarian legislation imposes certain obligations that translate into mandatory elements of an e-commerce website, which apply to both business and consumer directed websites.

Providing services by electronic means: Each e-commerce website needs to have General Terms and Conditions for electronically supplied services. Such services not only make it possible to make purchases via the website, but also display the website’s content, enabling the customer to create and use the account and all the other features of the website. According to the Bulgarian Electronic Commerce Act, the provider of services via electronic means shall provide the recipient of the service with the terms and conditions and the content of the contract in a way that allows their storage and reproduction.

Information obligation: Based on hte Electronic Commerce Act, the trader, in the capacity of information society services provider, will have to render easily and directly accessible to the recipients of the service at least the information on (i) its name; (ii) registered head office and registered address or, if different from the registered address, the address of its place of business; (iii) contact details, including phone number and e-mail address, for direct and timely communication; (iv) information on the registration in a commercial or similar public register, as well as VAT registration (if applicable); (v) prices, whether they are inclusive of tax, and delivery costs; (vi) relevant regulatory body where the activity is subject to a notification, permission or licence and other information required by law.

When proposing to conclude a contract by electronic means, the service provider shall inform the recipient of the service in advance in a clear, comprehensible and unambiguous manner of: (i) the technical steps involved in the conclusion of the contract and their legal significance; (ii) whether the contract will be stored by the service provider and how it can be accessed; (iii) the technical means of detecting and correcting errors in the input of information before the contract statement is made; (iv) the languages in which the contract may be concluded; (v) the manner of access by electronic means to a code of conduct to which it adheres (if applicable).

Cookies: If an e-commerce website uses cookies or similar technologies, it must fulfil information obligations and obtain consent for use of cookies (except for strictly necessary cookies) or similar technologies. Creating a cookie policy is the most common way to provide all required information.

Privacy: E-commerce website must fulfil information obligation under the GDPR and ensure that processing of personal data is compliant with the GDPR rules, e.g. that processing is based on a relevant legal basis. Creating a privacy policy is the most common way to provide all required information. It should be easily available and visible on the website.

Product information: As indicated above, the law provides requirements for certain products as to what information must be provided (displayed) before the customer makes the purchase. The scope of information on the product may vary, depending on the product category. The product page should be construed in a way that reflects the legal requirements applicable to a specific category. For example, for food products it would be required to display (among others) a list of the ingredients, whereas for electronics it is required to display (among others) the energy efficiency class.

The information provided to consumers must be in Bulgarian language. This obligation is set forth in the CPA and concerns all documents and information that are mandatory. In practice, a consumer-website addressed to Bulgarian consumers would need to be mostly in Bulgarian. The aftersales service should also be available in Bulgarian.

In B2B relations, there is no analogical obligation. Website and communication may be in a foreign language.

It is not mandatory to publish consumer reviews in websites directed to businesses or consumers. However, in consumer context, where a trader provides access to consumer reviews of a product, the trader shall provide information on whether the trader ensures that the product reviews published are those of consumers who have actually purchased the product and, if so, on how the authenticity of consumer reviews is verified. The trader shall provide clear information to consumers on how consumer reviews are handled, indicating whether all reviews are published, whether they are positive or negative, whether they have been sponsored or whether they have been influenced by a commercial relation with the trader. The information enabling ascertaining whether and how the trader ensures that the published product reviews are of consumers who have actually used or purchased the product shall be considered essential.

The following practices shall be considered misleading practices as a form of unfair commercial practices:

• Claiming that product reviews are submitted by consumers who have actually used or purchased the product without taking reasonable and proportionate steps to verify that the reviews are made by those consumers;
• Providing false consumer reviews or recommendations or commissioning another natural or legal person to provide false consumer reviews or recommendations or to falsify consumer reviews or public recommendations in order to promote the sale of products.

Dark patterns are not explicitly regulated by the law but might still be considered unfair commercial practices, violation of data privacy or other forms of violations of the law.

Examples of elements that can be considered dark patterns are: (i) countdown timers; (ii) hidden information; (iii) nagging; (iv) subscription traps; (v) forced registration and privacy intrusions; (vi) cancellation hurdles.

Requirements exist in consumer context.

When offering goods with reduced prices, the seller is obliged to provide specially indicated places for these goods and to inform the consumers in advance in an appropriate manner of the promotion.

Аny price reduction announcement must state: (i) the goods and services or group of goods and services for which the price reduction is valid; (ii) the conditions under which the price reduction is made; (iii) the period during which the goods and services are sold at the reduced prices.

The seller must clearly display the new price by placing it next to the previous price, indicating the percentage of reduction or using the words “new price” and “previous price”. Each promotion notice must state the previous applied price applied.

Normally, the price reduction notice may not be applied for a period longer than one month and shorter than one working day. Exceptions are possible is specific cases, such as a complete or partial sale of stock. 

The marketing communications that present directly or indirectly the goods, services or image of the trader constitute commercial communications. Sending unsolicited commercial communications to consumers requires the prior consent (opt-in) of the consumer. Marketing opt-in should meet the GDPR-consent standard. This means that such consent should be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous statement or clear affirmative action.

An exception to this opt-in rule applies where electronic contact data is received in a commercial transaction for the provision of products or services. Such contact data may be used to send a marketing communications for the trader’s own similar products or services, provided that the consumer can free of charge and in an easy way: (i) express dissent at the time of the transaction; (ii) opt-out of receiving future such communications where this is not done at the time of the transaction.

Where the consumer withdraws consent for direct marketing or objects to processing for direct marketing purposes, the personal data must no longer be processed for such purposes.

Businesses may be addressed by marketing communication without specific consent, provided that the email address in not included in the electronic register of the e-mail addresses of the legal persons that do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial communications (opt-out register). This register is maintained by the Bulgarian Commission for Consumer Protection.

Compliance with the requirements on reducing prices, marketing communications and others are  controlled by the Bulgarian Commission for Consumer Protection.

Unfair commercial practices can be declared invalid by the court. They are in the scrutiny of the Commission for Consumer Protection if they represent ‘widespread infringements’ or ‘widespread infringement with a Union dimension’. ‘Widespread infringements’ are any act or omission contrary to Union laws that protect consumers’ interests that has done, does or is likely to do harm to the collective interests of consumers residing in at least two Member States other than the Member State in which: (i) the act or omission originated or took place; (ii) the trader responsible for the act or omission is established; or (iii) evidence or assets of the trader pertaining to the act or omission are to be found; or (b) any acts or omissions contrary to Union laws that protect consumers interests that have done, do or are likely to do harm to the collective interests of consumers and that have common features, including the same unlawful practice, the same interest being infringed and that are occurring concurrently, committed by the same trader, in at least three Member States. ‘Widespread infringement with a Union dimension’ is widespread infringement that has done, does or is likely to do harm to the collective interests of consumers in at least two-thirds of the Member States, accounting, together, for at least two-thirds of the population of the Union.

Practices like misleading advertising, unpermitted comparative advertising, unfair soliciting of customers in various forms are considered unfair competition and are under the scrutiny of the Bulgarian Competition Protection Commission.

The consumer protection legislation in Bulgaria is aligned with the EU requirements.

As a rule – consumers are entitled to withdraw from a distance contract without giving any reason within fourteen days from: (i) the date of the conclusion of the contract for provision of services; (ii) in the case of sales contracts, the day on which the consumer/ or a third party indicated by the consumer/ acquires physical possession of the goods. The traders must inform consumers of their right of withdrawal, the conditions, time limit and procedures for exercising that right before the consumer is bound by the distance contract. If the trader has not provided the consumer with the relevant information on the right of withdrawal, the withdrawal period expires one year from the end of the initial withdrawal period. The consumer bears the direct cost of returning the goods unless the trader has agreed to bear them or unless the trader has failed to inform the consumer that the consumer must bear such costs.

The provisions related to legal guarantee and the commercial guarantees undertaken by the trader or the producer to the consumer, apply to both traditional and online sales. Products and services must be in conformity with the the agreement and the objective requirements for conformity. The statutory guarantee is 2 years. Any non-conformity occurring within one year after delivery of the goods shall be presumed to have existed at the time of delivery, unless the contrary is proved, or unless such presumption is incompatible with the nature of the goods or with the nature of the non-conformity.

Specific rules are at place for digital content or a digital services. The trader is obliged to provide the consumer with digital content or a digital service that meets the individual contractual compliance requirements, the objective compliance requirements and the requirements for integrating the digital content or digital service into the consumer's digital environment. Specific statutory requirements for conformity with the contract and the objective requirements exist. In the event of a discrepancy in the digital content or digital service, the user has the right to: (i) make a complaint by asking the trader to bring the digital content or digital service into conformity; (ii) receive a proportionate price reduction; or (iii) terminate the contract under the conditions provided for in the law.

As a rule, Bulgarian competition law mirrors EU legislation. Every distributor is allowed to use the Internet to sell products and must not be restricted in doing so, unless there are compelling reasons (e.g. health and safety concerns assessed always on a case-by-case basis). However, manufacturers are permitted to impose quality standards for online distribution in certain justified circumstances of selective distribution systems. Also, as in other distribution channels, suppliers are not permitted to impose resale prices.

The current competition rules, applicable in Bulgaria, covering the vertical aspect of online sales (supplier-distributor) are aligned with Directive (EU) 2019/633 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain.

Generally, regular e-commerce stores do not fall under financial services regulations. The distance marketing of financial services act stipulates the requirements to distant marketing of financial services and in particular on the distance contracts, the provision of information to the consumers, the right of withdrawal and commercial communications.

Тhe processing of customer payments constitutes a regulated activity.

In Bulgaria, there is no authority specializing solely in e-commerce. As in the case of brick-and-mortal sales, the relevant authority is the Bulgarian Commission for Consumer Protection (CPC) for public enforcement of consumer rights. CPC monitors and controls the compliance of the e-commerce businesses with the provisions of the Bulgarian Electronic Commerce Act, the Consumer Protection Act and the Supply of Digital Content and Digital Services and the Sale of Goods Act. With regard to the general safety of products and services, CPC is the controlling authority in respect of safety of non-food products and of services. The authority responsible for the safety of food products as per the CPA and the Foodstuff Act is the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA).

The safety of cosmetic products is monitored and controlled by the Minister of Health and the State Health Control authorities. Market surveillances authorities are set forth also in the Technical Requirements for Products Act in respect of different categories of products falling within the scope of the Act.

With regard to personal data protection issues, the Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP) is the authority entitled to provide expert advice and issue opinions on data protection, as well as to enforce and issue fines for non-compliance with data protection law.

As mentioned above, practices like misleading advertising, unpermitted comparative advertising, unfair soliciting of customers in various forms are controlled by the Bulgarian Competition Protection Commission.

In Bulgaria, consumers may seek to enforce their rights before a civil court, either individually or by a class action. In Bulgaria, a significant role in the private enforcement of consumer rights is played by consumer organisations. The most active consumer organisations in Bulgaria is the Bulgarian National Association Active Consumers.

Note that the Arbitration clauses for solving disputes with consumers are void.

The alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in Bulgaria is regulated by the CPA. The resolution of an ADR entity of a dispute between a consumer and a trader will be binding if the parties were informed of its binding nature in advance and specifically accepted this. Specific acceptance by the trader is not required if the rules of procedure of the ADR entity provide that solutions are binding on traders. The Minister of Economy is the competent authority for the recognition of ADR entities and lists such ADR in a publicly available act of the Minister of Economy. The CCP carries out alternative dispute resolution activities for consumer disputes through conciliation committees.

All online traders must provide on their websites a link to the Online Dispute Resolution platform of the European Commission.

The legal developments relevant for e-commerce business in Bulgaria derive mostly from changes at EU level.

On October 3, 2024, the European Commission published a report evaluating the effectiveness of existing EU consumer protection laws in protecting consumers in the digital space. The report found that the existing EU consumer laws are not sufficiently effective in tackling current and emerging consumer harms in the digital environment.  The report will support the European Commission’s intention to start working a new EU consumer law called the “Digital Fairness Act”, which will: tackle new consumer risks in the digital space, such as dark patterns, addictive design and gaming, influencer marketing, personalization (of ads, rankings, recommendations and pricing/offers), contract cancellation, automated contracts in the context of connected devices, digital subscriptions, and generative AI systems (e.g., AI chatbots) and emotion-recognition AI systems; provide for a greater degree of harmonization, further reducing differences in consumer laws at Member State level; and ensure better enforcement, for example through the use of automated enforcement tools (e.g., automated market sweep tools), by strengthening the powers of consumer authorities to undertake joint enforcement actions, and by ensuring an increase in national and CJEU case law on consumer law in the digital environment. Proposal is expected in the coming years.

At local level, transposing of Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and repealing Directive 2009/22/EC, is expected soon.