With a decision from the end of 2021 the Bulgarian competition authority has launched a sector inquiry into the e-commerce market of goods and services online such as: clothing, footwear and accessories, sporting goods, cosmetics, electronic equipment, toys, furniture and household goods, accommodation and travel services, communication and advertising services, food and beverage delivery services, online sale of event tickets, and other. This Commission will analyse this sector in depth for the first time. The procedure could take up to 6 months or even more.

Announcement on the Commission’s website mentions that one of the reasons for initiating the sector inquiry is the fast-growing digital market and the increased use of the Internet by the Bulgarian households significantly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On a separate note, the regulatory body mentions its recent findings for breach of the competition rules in the context of e-commerce – e.g. different pricing for online and brick-and-mortar shops; fixing minimum resale prices in an online platform; collection and misuse of personal data for online marketing and targeting of end users. The Commission will focus on obtaining useful information on the functioning of the market for e-commerce of goods/online services in high demand, market powers, as well as barriers to competition and the effects of market expansion.

Sector inquiries aim at gathering and analyzing large volume of market information from as many market participants and interested parties as possible. The Commission is asking for active support for providing any information and data related to the competition environment in the sector. It is to be expected that the Commission approaches market participants with specific requests for information, which should be carefully addressed.

‍