Romanians spent €34.8 million on 449,000 online transactions in 2007, up 263 percent year-on-year, according to data from card processing center, RomCard, Business Standard daily reports.

For 2008 the estimates are for total value of €70 mln and 780,000 transactions. Online payments are expected to make up 25 percent of the total card payment market, according to Carmen Sebe, CEO of Gecad ePayment.

The most profitable time of year was the holiday season, when sales reached €9.9 mln. In the last 2 months of 2007 sales reached €6.2 mln, 153 percent more than in the same period in 2006.

According to Gecad ePayment, Romanians bought travel packages, IT products, electronics, toys, and telecom services. Romanian online stores using ePayment had 344,000 transactions, worth a total €29.5 million.

ePayment estimates that telecom and tourism will continue to be the most popular items sold online. Electronic retail and online payment have great potential. The most popular items in 2007 were telecom products, travel packages, and electronic retail.

The main achievement in 2007 was that the online market showed its true potential. We have clients who started to work with us in 2007, and who have carried out a significant percentage of their sales online, with their entire development strategy dictated by online opportunities, added Carmen Sebe.