Montenegro’s newly established E-commerce Group of the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro is calling for better regulation, logistics and consumer protection as online shopping expands, with about 45% of citizens buying online in 2025. Bojana Radović, the group’s newly elected chair and executive director of Glovo Montenegro, said in an interview that EU membership and alignment with European rules could help develop and professionalise the market.
The share of Montenegrin residents who shop online rose from about 15% in 2019 to approximately 45% in 2025. In EU countries, about 73% of citizens buy online, leaving Montenegro behind the bloc and much of the region, even as more companies and consumers use digital sales channels.
The figures point to changing consumer habits and greater recognition among businesses of the potential of digital channels, while also showing room for further market development. E-commerce is growing continuously worldwide, and the group sees the next stage for Montenegro as building an ecosystem that supports digitalisation, consumer confidence and cooperation between businesses and institutions.
Those priorities are linked to innovation, investment and competitiveness, rather than to online sales alone. For companies, broader use of digital channels depends on both the ability to sell online and the conditions in which customers can make purchases and receive goods.
Regulation and business conditions
The group’s initial priorities include improving the legal and regulatory framework, involving businesses early and constructively in the drafting of relevant rules, exchanging knowledge and experience, and resolving practical challenges in the sector. It wants policymakers to take the market’s experience into account when assessing the impact of new regulations.
Radović’s position is that regulation should combine high standards and effective consumer protection with a framework that attracts investment, encourages entrepreneurship and accommodates innovative business models. The group is seeking clear rules for market participants while asking that the business community be involved before relevant requirements are developed.
“The regulatory framework must keep pace with modern business models and provide clear rules for everyone,” Radović said. The group also plans to work with relevant institutions and European organisations to bring local practices closer to European ones, and to support consumer protection and education.
Fair competition and equal conditions for companies operating responsibly and in compliance with the law are also among its stated aims. The group has identified an inadequate regulatory framework, challenges in logistics infrastructure and insufficient public confidence in online shopping as systemic obstacles to the sector’s development.
Clearer regulatory rules could strengthen companies’ legal certainty and help tackle the grey economy and unfair competition, according to the interview. The group’s agenda therefore covers both the content of rules and how they affect companies operating under different conditions in the market.
“Alignment with European rules is one of e-commerce’s biggest development opportunities in Montenegro,” Radović said. The group has also stressed that alignment should not be reduced to formal changes in legislation: effective implementation should take account of the specific characteristics and development potential of Montenegro’s market.
Open dialogue between institutions and the business community will be important to that process. The group’s proposed early involvement of businesses is intended to bring practical market experience into the preparation and assessment of regulations, while its exchange-of-knowledge priority is intended to address sector challenges.
Delivery, trust and EU access
Improving delivery across Montenegro requires an efficient, reliable and accessible system. The factors identified include the address system, digital infrastructure and coordination among participants in the delivery chain, as well as the performance and availability of delivery services.
These elements form part of the practical conditions for online commerce: a digital transaction also requires goods to reach customers through a functioning delivery system. The group has identified logistics as a central barrier and has put improvements to delivery among the areas requiring attention, without specifying a separate timetable or investment amount.
Consumer confidence is another stated priority. The approach set out by Radović is to strengthen trust through better consumer protection, promotion of responsible business practices and market education, alongside the group’s planned cooperation with institutions and European organisations.
Radović expects EU membership to improve policies and regulation affecting e-commerce, including the address directory, customs procedures and freer movement of goods within the bloc. Montenegro is in the final stage of negotiations with the EU, according to the interview, and is expected to align with European rules for the digital market.
Membership would give Montenegrin consumers access to a wider range of products, platforms and offers from other EU member states. It would also encourage local businesses to develop online sales and improve their offerings, while a larger and more open market would bring more competition and opportunities.
That competition would make it necessary for local businesses to be more competitive on price, quality, innovation or other aspects of their offers. The prospect of wider market access therefore comes alongside a requirement for companies to improve what they sell and how they sell it, rather than serving only as an expansion in the number of available products.
Applying the European regulatory framework could bring greater legal certainty, increase confidence in online commerce and make it easier for domestic companies to operate in the European market. The group’s position is that these potential benefits depend on effective application of the rules as well as their formal adoption.
Domestic businesses should continue investing in digitalisation, logistics and online payment security, as well as improving the quality of the customer experience, to compete in the EU single market. These areas correspond to the group’s identified market challenges: the ability to operate digitally, deliver reliably and build trust in online transactions.
The group will press for consumer education and protection, fair competition and closer cooperation with institutions as Montenegro aligns its digital-market rules with those of the EU. Its work is also intended to bring business experience into policymaking and help ensure that new rules are assessed against practical conditions in the market.
Radović has cautioned that the process must involve effective implementation and account for the specific features of Montenegro’s market, rather than end with formal regulatory alignment. Open dialogue between institutions and businesses remains a key part of the group’s stated approach as the country moves toward EU membership.
