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Czech: E-commerce decreased 12% compared to the previous year, still above covid 2020 levels

04. 01. 2023 | Adéla Berková

The turnover of e-shops in 2022 ended up 12% below last year's level, but the spending of Czechs on the Internet still surpassed the year 2020 by one billion CZK. The expansion of the product range has also left its mark on online shopping. The total turnover of the largest category, which is electronics, decreased slightly year-on-year, while the turnover of other categories such as hobby or home and garden, on the contrary, grew. A slight consolidation began among e-shops, which is projected to continue more significantly in the first half of this year, as their number decreased to the current figure of 50 100. The regular summary of the development of Czech e-commerce over the past year is brought to you by Heureka.cz shopping advisor and price comparison website and the Association of E-commerce in Czech Republic (APEK – Asociace pro elektronickou komerci).

The first quarter of last year brought a 25% year-on-year decrease compared to 2021, where the influence of the covid period still could be felt. The spring and summer, namely, the second and third quarters, in a year-over-year comparison were much more favorable for e-commerce, as the e-commerce turnover in this period was only one percentage point below the previous year’s level. A perceptible drop began only in autumn and persisted until the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. “While the Christmas season went well compared to last year and people spent almost as much as last year, the fourth quarter was marked by a noticeable fall off in spending during October as people anxiously awaited the increase of savings and held off spending for the time being." - explains Tomáš Braverman, the CEO of Heureka Group, which operates price comparison websites in the entire CEE region, and adds: "The annual figures ended up being 12% lower than last year, and the total spendings reached 197 billion CZK is still higher than in 2020. The e-commerce segment has definitely strengthened to the point that it is copying the trends and developments of the entire retail market."

The sales of Czech online stores experienced a decline for the first time in history. "At APEK, we have been following the development of e-commerce since 2001. There were several underlying reasons for the first year-on-year decline in Czech e-commerce," comments Jan Vetyška, executive director of APEK, on the results on e-commerce, and continues: "We have the covid epidemic behind us, which was a very exceptional period, and now it has been replaced by an energy crisis and high inflation. Consumers have started to save more and thought through their purchases very carefully, especially in the first half of the year. This posed an unexpectedly challenging period for e-shops, which of course had its winners and losers." Despite the decrease in overall sales, the prominence of online shopping continues to grow, and Czechs today order from online stores practically the entire range of goods they need from food items to construction materials. "I believe that in 2023 the market will stabilize, and e-shops will once again show their quality and constantly growing importance for the entire Czech retail industry," concludes Jan Vetyška.

E-commerce turnover in the Czech Republic (in billion CZK)

YEAR 2019

YEAR 2020

 YEAR 2021

 YEAR 2022

155

196

223

197

+15%

+26%

 

+14%

 

-12%

Source: Heureka.cz, APEK

Expanding product range of e-shops

In the recent years a trend has already started in the e-commerce segment that became even more significant in 2022, namely the widening of product categories bought by customers in e-shops. "Customers have changed their shopping habits and it has become evident to a greater extent how external circumstances influence our purchasing behaviour. During the whole year, an assortment of products showed up on the top list of the best-selling categories, which would have been almost unimaginable in the online shopping sphere in the previous years," describes Honza Mayer, managing director of Heureka CZ, the changes in customer behaviour. In the spring, for example, interest in garden greenhouses jumped by hundreds of percent, the support of Ukraine has boosted interest for power generators (258%) and medical products. By the reason of the energy crisis, interest for space heating products such as stoves (117%), solid fuel stoves (147%) or oil radiators, etc., has increased by leaps and bounds this year.

"On the contrary, especially at the end of the year, people's interest dropped in home appliances that were popular in previous years, such as robotic vacuum cleaners (-42%) or clothes dryers (-39%), so things that are not needed immediately or that do not bring significant savings with the purchase." adds Mayer. Among these categories, 3D printers (+308%) and power generators (+258%) had the highest increase, while the year's losers were coronavirus tests (-63%) and beer taps (-61%).

Winners of 2022 (TOP 5 year-on-year fastest growing categories)

3D printers

308%

Power generators

258%

Solid fuel stoves

147%

Band saws

122%

Fireplaces

117%

Source: Heureka.cz

Losers of 2022 (TOP 5 categories with the largest year-on-year decline)

Coronavirus tests

-63%

Beer taps

-61%

Bicycles

-50%

Robot vacuums

-42%

Clothes dryers

-39%

Source: Heureka.cz

E-commerce is not just about electronics

The expansion of the product range is also reflected in how the share of each category within the total output has changed over the past three years. "In short, e-commerce is no longer just about electronics, on the contrary, the popularity of other segments entering the online space is also increasing. The share of furniture, home and garden equipment or the hobby segment is growing. As this selection expands in the range of e-shops, so does the desire and willingness of customers to buy these things online," says Honza Mayer. For example, the share of electronics fell from 21% in 2020 to the current 19%, while that of hobbies increased from 6.6% to the current 8,3%.

Market share development of individual categories on the Internet

Category

2020

2021

2022

Electronics

21,1%

19,2%

19,0%

Household appliances

14,1%

11,8%

10,6%

Home and garden

9,6%

10,8%

12,3%

Furniture

9,0%

9,5%

9,1%

Apparel and fashion

8,9%

9,9%

9,5%

Sport

8,1%

8,5%

7,8%

Hobby

6,6%

6,8%

8,3%

Automotive

6,0%

7,1%

7,3%

Cosmetics and health

5,9%

6,3%

6,2%

Children products

5,4%

5,0%

5,1%

Movies, books, games

3,1%

2,7%

2,2%

Food and drinks

1,9%

2,0%

2,2%

Sexual and erotic aids

0,4%

0,5%

0,5%

Source: Heureka.cz

The number of e-shops has decreased, which trend will continue next year

For the first time in history, the number of e-shops on the Czech market has decreased, which Heureka estimates is the beginning of an incipient consolidation that will fully begin in the first half of 2023. "We expect a bigger drop in the number of e-shops, especially in the first half of this year. Retailers are stocking goods for the new season, and the prices will most likely be reflected in the increased costs of energy, transport, and others," states Tomáš Braverman, adding: "This may cause existential problems for some e-shops, which will be reflected in the partial consolidation of the market. Instead of high-value sales, it will be more about merging actors and debt assumptions." However, Braverman concludes that the e-commerce medium is highly agile and unencumbered by high fixed costs, so it can handle this influx.

Number of e-shops in the Czech Republic

YEAR 2019

YEAR 2020

YEAR 2021

YEAR 2022

46 600

49 500

50 985

50 100

Source: Heureka.cz

"Taking into account the pressure on people and the circumstances of the past year, this year has not turned out to be dramatically negative. In addition, the e-shop shopping carts have already become an integral part of the vast majority of households, so even if people started to think carefully about their purchases at the end of last year, and perhaps postponed certain expenses, everything is done with consideration. We are headed towards a period, where consumers make smart shopping decision and compare more offers, rather than completely stop impending costs" concludes Tomáš Braverman, CEO of Heureka Group.

Logistics characterized by the introduction of robotic systems

A significant trend in logistics in the recent years has primarily been the increase in delivery efficiency, the introduction of robotic systems, and the digitization of data transmission in logistics. The Balíkobot service, which is currently used by 3 700 customers in the Czech Republic and abroad, also contributes to this. "Thanks to smart technologies, companies can save up to millions per year on capacity, significantly reduce the number of returns and speed up delivery by tens of percent, which is welcomed by the customers," tells us Martin Šauer, CEO of Balíkobot. In order to prevent returns and increase customer satisfaction, e-shops also very often use package tracking services (track&trace).

The share of the largest shipping carriers in the Balíkobot customer segment is Zásilkovna 31%, Czech Post 20%, PPL 14%, DPD 13% and GLS 11%. Most of the shipments are usually delivered the next business day after the shipping provider receives the package. However, this always depends on the destination, season, and other parameters (weight, size, and others). In 2022, Balíkobot mediated the data transmission of more than 31 million shipments (packages and pallets), which represents an increase of nearly 9% compared to the previous year.

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