The Hungarian e-commerce market grew by 15% to HUF1.92 trillion (€4.8bn) in 2024, while sales generated by Hungarian and EU-based retailers increased at a slower pace, rising 10% to HUF1.6 trillion. Meanwhile, Hungarian consumers have ordered HUF330bn worth of goods from outside the EU, largely from the Chinese platform Temu, which rapidly gained a strong foothold in the market according to PwC's latest Digital Commerce Report, released on February 14.

E-commerce growth outstripped the 2.6% increase recorded by traditional stores, which includes fuel sales.

The key finding of the report is that while Hungarian retailers have struggled to expand abroad, foreign competitors have successfully entered the Hungarian market, often offering lower prices, including delivery, than domestic firms.

Aside from Temu's influence, a more notable trend has emerged: Hungarian-owned businesses are losing ground in their own market. Although they began from a similar starting point as regional competitors, local e-commerce companies have struggled to keep up with rivals from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Poland.

By 2023, Hungary's largest online retailers were foreign-owned, with Romania’s eMAG, Czech retailer Alza, and Czech-based Kifli leading the market in their own segments.

Among the 15 biggest e-commerce players, only five were Hungarian-owned, while others were controlled by companies from the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Romania, the UK, Sweden and Poland.

The market's transformation put pressure on domestic retailers to innovate and enhance their service levels to remain competitive by scaling up their operations.

Extreme Digital, once Hungary's leading e-commerce player, exemplifies this shift. It dominated the market until 2019-2020, when it merged with Romania's eMAG, which retained its name and now leads Hungarian online retail. This transformation has pushed major retailers toward alternative revenue streams beyond traditional retail.

Hungarian consumers are becoming increasingly price-sensitive, which also helps to explain the rapid ascent of Temu.

The average basket value stagnated in 2024, reflecting heightened caution amid high inflation. 

The growth of e-commerce has also transformed the logistics market, with parcel lockers becoming increasingly popular. Last year, one in four e-commerce orders in Hungary was made through parcel terminals, and this figure has doubled to nearly 10,000 in just four years.

Regional companies the likes of Packet have capitalized on this growth. The Czech package carrier acquired its Hungarian sector peer Foxpost last June. Foxpost was a pioneer on parcel terminal market in 2014 and it has grown to become a dominant player in just ten years, thanks to the financial support of its owners. 

Wallis, one of the largest full-Hungarian-owned business sold its stakes in Foxpost to a consortium of CVC Capital Partners and EMMA Capital Group.

Foxpost operates over 1,200 terminals across Hungary and delivered nearly 10 million packages last year, partnering with thousands of retailers.

Packeta, the market leader in Slovakia and Czechia, entered the Hungarian market in 2019. Within just six years, it has grown its network of pick-up points and parcel machines to more than 3,500. After the merger, Packeta is poised to become the dominant logistics provider in Hungary's parcel terminal market.