Czechs increasingly fond of foreign online-stores
Czech customers spent some 19.5 billion crowns on purchases from foreign e-shops and on online booking of air-tickets and accommodation in the first six months of 2018.
“Czech e-stores are losing customers, who tend to shop abroad more and more frequently. On the other hand, we can see a growing interest in cross-border shopping in the countries neighbouring with the Czech Republic,” PayPal’s general manager for Central and Eastern Europe Marcin Glogowski told the Czech News Agency.
According to Glogowski, Czech e-stores can benefit from getting foreign customers. For instance Austria has one of the highest shares of on-line purchases in foreign stores within the EU, amounting to 71 percent.
Czech customers are also increasingly fond of Chinese e-shops. Most of the purchases carried out in China don’t exceed the limit of 22 euros, and are therefore exempt from VAT and payments and customs duty.
More than 60 percent of Czech online purchases within the limit of 22 euros are carried out in China, followed by Singapore, the U.S. and Hong Kong.
Czechs are expected to spend over 133 billion crowns in e-stores this year, with the year-on-year growth estimated at 15 to 18 percent, according to the data of the Association of Electronic Commerce.
E-commerce last year amounted to 10.5 percent of the entire Czech retail market and is expected to increase further this year.
