Czechs increasingly using mobiles for online shopping
Czech consumers are increasingly shopping online, with overall revenues predicted to reach almost CZK 100 billion this year. What’s more, though Czechs currently lag behind some nations in this respect, they are using their mobile phones to carry out purchases ever more often.
However, despite this deceleration overall revenues could grow from CZK 81 billion last year to a whopping CZK 96 billion this year, according to market analysts Acomware. Jan Penkala is the company’s CEO.
“People are showing increased interest in this form of shopping while retail in general is also growing. Also many traditional retailers are now starting to take an interest in this form of shopping and are allowing their customers to order online. So this is a trend that will continue for several years. In my view, internet sales can still grow by a further 15 or 25 percent.”
A marked majority of Czechs still use desktop computers or notebooks for online shopping. Three-quarters of visits to web retailers are made on such gadgets, as are 86.5 percent of sales.
But smartphones and tablets are catching up fast, with a year-on-year jump in usage of 70 percent for online shopping in the first three months of 2016.
Jan Penkala of Acomware says retailers need to develop special apps to help the trend catch on further. But he believes it is only a matter of time before most Czech consumers employ handheld devices to make online purchases.
“Today mobile phones account for 17 percent of online retailers’ visits. We expect that by the end of the year it will be around 30 percent and that turnover will also double. To offer a comparison, in the UK mobiles and tables account for over 50 percent – they’ve reached that break-through point already. We haven’t got there yet but we probably will in three or four years.”
Average purchases are also growing, with the figure reaching just under CZK 1,900 between the start of January and the end of March, CZK 150 more than in the last quarter of 2015.
However, what’s called the conversion rate was slightly down on the period surrounding Christmas. Then 2.4 percent of visitors to web retailers’ sites actually bought something; in the first three months of this year it was 1.9 percent.
