Magazine: E-commerce getting stronger

This year is expected to bring further growth in online sales. The market expanded by 25-26 percent last year and according to Zoltán Ormós, the president of Szek.org, the expansion will continue, although at a slower pace. Certain market players are present in foreign countries as well, targeting Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian and Serbian consumers.

Tchibo’s e-commerce director Norbert Németh told Trade magazin that their online shop realised HUF 2.1 billion in sales last year, growing by 20 percent from the 2014 level. For 2016 they calculate with a 15-percent expansion and a HUF 2.4-2.5 billion sales revenue. The company has just started its cross-selling service: shoppers in physical stores can also order online with the help of shop assistants, having the goods delivered home or to the store; those shopping from home can pick up the products ordered in Tchibo stores. This model has already proved its sales increasing effect in foreign markets.

With consumer willingness to buy online growing, more and more retailers are investing in their web shops. One of these is Tesco, who informed our magazine that the three most popular categories in their online store are basic food products, soft drinks and household cleaners. Tesco calculates with market growth in 2016 and plans to add new products to its online selection.

Ákos Bognár, the managing director of jateknet.hu informed us that 2015 brought further growth for them, but admitted they had had to change their strategy during the year in order to be able to compete with the big players. Sales by online retailers are becoming more concentrated, with special days such as Black Friday generating 2-3 times bigger sales than ordinary ones. This constitutes a great challenge to retailers and logistics companies alike. Mr Bognár added that consumers are more knowledgeable than before.

Major market players such as Extreme Digital are also considering the move of entering foreign markets, e.g. Austria – told Balázs Várkonyi, managing director of Extreme Digital. The company’s sales performance improved by 20 percent last year, with the large-size household appliances segment developing the fastest, by 141 percent. Mr Várkonyi revealed that the surge in the number of parcels to be delivered is a serious challenge for logistics companies. At the moment they are unable to serve online retailers’ needs in peak periods.

Richárd Schmidt, commercial director of Bónusz Brigád told our magazine that the company’s sales augmented by more than 30 percent in 2015, in part because a growing number of consumers are buying experiences for themselves or as a present. The website sells products, services and holidays and the following categories performed especially well last year: healthy food, furnishing and accessories, dietary supplements.

According to Ferenc Szigeti, managing director of Media Markt’s web shop, consumers purchased every fifth product online and sales doubled last year. Media Market introduced a 60-day product return period and customers can now pick up the products they order online in physical stores. The consumer electronics chain will soon start selling DIY products online. András Deák, business development director of Libri-Shopline, informed our magazine that for them last year’s main trend was the increase in the number of visits and purchases made from mobile phones: mobile device use made up for 30 percent of total visits and 10 percent of total sales in the Shopline/Bookline unit. These data show a 50-percent growth from the previous year. The 2015 Christmas season was the best ever for the company in terms of book sales – there was a 5-10 percent growth in book sales and a 15-20 percent sales rise in the non-book categories. Mr Deák reckons that the biggest challenge ahead of online retailers is being present in several channels (mobile, physical store, website, app) at the same time.

Judit Szász, marketing manager of Fashion Days in Hungary reported about promising sales numbers for 2015: like-for-like sales augmented by nearly 9 percent. The most popular categories were commercial clothing items, shoes, sportswear, watches and designer lines. They pay special attention to smartphone apps at the company: in 2013 they came out with iPhone and iPad apps, followed by an Android app in 2014. Result: the value of orders placed using these apps represented 37 percent of total orders, growing by 7 percentage points from the previous year.