The turnover of online stores in the Czech Republic grew by 25% in 2018 y/y -- the fastest in the Central European region, according to a survey by Ageo.cz, daily E15.cz reporting on February 24.

Online retail volume growth in Czechia was followed by Austria with 19%, Slovakia with 16%, and Poland and Germany with 15% and 11%, respectively. The share of e-shops in total retail sales in the Czech Republic stands at 9%.

“The Czech Republic has been at the forefront of e-commerce for a long time. Fairly good internet infrastructure, availability of suitable payment instruments that are gradually displacing cash on delivery, as well as a large number of outlets, which together account for approximately 10,000 shops, have been contributing a lot,” said Aego.cz Sales Director Ales Urbanek.

The Czechs spent 41% more in foreign e-shops and booked by 41% more on accommodation and flight tickets year-on-year in 2018, totalling CZK41.8bn (€1.63bn), according to statistics from the Association for Bank Cards. The average value of one purchase went down to CZK772 (€30), same as in 2017. In 2016 the value reached CZK1,095 (€42.7).

The most popular foreign e-shops are the Chinese Aliexpress.com, Dresslink.com, dx.com or Tinydeal.com.

The Czechs spent CZK135bn (€5.26) in domestic e-shops in 2018 and a share of online shops in retail sales grew by almost one percentage point to 11.4%, according to the Association for Electronic Commerce. The Czechs spent about CZK62bn (€24.16) on the Internet services (excluding bets).

In 2017, the e-commerce market in the Czech Republic was worth $5.68bn. The compound annual growth rate is projected to be 6.3% over the next five years, according to a government report. The largest market segment will be Electronics & Media, the market size for, which is projected to be $830mn in 2018. Currently, 47.9% of the population use ecommerce. This is expected to increase to 51.8% by 2022. The average revenue per user is $515.

Interest in cross-border e-commerce is growing among Czech customers. The decision to buy through foreign online stores is most often based on lower prices, and on access to products not available in the Czech Republic. The markets most often mentioned for cross-border e-commerce include Germany ($42.7bn) and China ($8.7bn), followed by other EU countries and the United States. Customer support and site trustworthiness are important for Czech customers. For cross-border ecommerce, the most sought after items include digital products and electronics, followed by clothes, jewellery/watches and cosmetics. The most popular online shops in the Czech Republic include Alza, Mall cz, Kasa cz, CZC cz, 123 Shop, and Monkey Data.