Growing online marketplaces

Volume sales in online retail increased by approximately 15 percent in 2019. Consumer electronics, fashion items, DIY and furniture were the top categories in e-commerce, but the FMCG sector wasn’t far behind them. One of the engines of growth was the increase in consumer spending. Many new online shops opened to satisfy this bigger demand, while the existing ones expanded their product selection.

Sándor Nagy
president
Ecommerce
Hungary

Just like in other parts of the world, 2019 brought the expansion of marketplaces, for instance, eMag Marketplace is already working with more than 4,000 sales partners and short-term plans include doubling this number. At the same time, Hungary still has rather weak positions in operating omnichannel sales structures. The saddest thing is that in many sectors even the biggest players don’t consider combined offline and online presence to be a strategic objective.

E-commerce companies are trying to optimise their packaging and delivery processes, in order to reduce their environmental impact. The big breakthrough still hasn’t happened in the field of online payment, but it is also true that bank card companies did not launch any new innovation that would turn the market upside down or create new advantages or motivation for retailers in this field. In marketing, last year’s biggest new development was the Hungarian debut of Google Shopping. Generally speaking, we can say that 2019 was a good and promising year for online retail when many new development projects were implemented for increasing the volume of sales and the level of the service provided.

In the first quarter of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic shook the world of Hungarian retail. Online shopping can be the answer to shop closures, but let’s not forget that the segment’s market share is still just 6 percent, which is even smaller in the FMCG category that is of great importance at the moment. One thing is for sure, 2020 will be a decisive year in e-commerce. //