E-commerce in the Czech Republic

E-commerce

E-commerce market

E-commerce has been growing in the country, but overall growth is slowing down. However, the Czech Government strongly encourages the development of e-commerce and online stores can be operated by both Czechs and foreigners. Given the large  number of e-shops in the country, the sector has become attractive to investors, and market consolidation is expected to continue. In 2017, B2C e-Commerce turnover was US$ 4.9 billion, a 14% growth from the previous year. Online shopping currently amounts to 10% of total retail sales in the Czech Republic. The use of smartphones when it comes to making online purchases is on the rise, while computers are being used less. However, a common practice in the country is to look for goods through a mobile phone and subsequently make the purchase using a computer.

Social media

Social media usage in the Czech Republic has been on an upward trend over the last few years. In 2017, there were 4.9 million active social media users in the Czech Republic, making the penetration rate 46%, which indicated a growth of 9% compared to the previous year. Out of the active users, 3.9 million people accessed social media via smartphones, making it the most popular device when it comes to using social media. As of July 2018, the most popular social media network in the coutry was Facebook, with a penetration rate of 57.06%, followed by Pinterest (12.12%), YouTube (10.45%), Twitter (10.33%), Instagram (3.17%) and Tumblr (2.5%).