Last year online retail estimatedly expanded by 22.5 percent and neared HUF 266 billion. According to a forecast by eNET, in the medium term (2014-2018) e-commerce is about to boom, partly because stores will soon have to stay closed on Sundays and also due to the changes in VAT regulation. One of the biggest explosions in Hungary’s online retail was the introduction of Black Friday promotions: online stores realised a HUF 2.3-2.7 billion turnover as part of this campaign alone. The sales growth was also the result of new, big players appearing in the market. Consumers started to trust online buying more, too, while the innovations of logistics service providers made buying more online more comfortable. eNET forecasts further growth in Hungarian e-commerce in 2015. Gergely Kiss, an eNET partner told our magazine that one of the biggest questions now is how mandatory Sunday closure will affect online retail. The expert believes there is no point in over-regulating the matter as it could lead to foreign countries realising profits from Hungarian consumers’ spending. Ákos Bognár, the managing director of jateknet.hu (two-time winner of ‘Best Shop in the Country) told that the Hungarian e-commerce market went through a cleansing process after the appearance of the big players and he expects this trend to continue in 2015. There is no final data available on 2014 sales yet, but jateknet.hu’s sales probably expanded by 25 percent.

András Deák, business development director of Libri-Shopline Nyrt. informed our magazine that their sales also increased last year. Libri and Shopline merged in 2013 and this move made more cost-efficient operation possible. The company is prepared for the appearance of new market players. Mr Deák reckons that more retailers attract more consumers to the e-commerce segment. Tesco’s press department informed Trade magazin that online buying is developing rapidly in the Budapest area and in and around Szeged. Tesco’s online shop already has 120,000 registered users. There are 400 full-time Tesco employees working in e-commerce and 4 stores, 4 collection points and 66 trucks serve customers. The average online buyer purchases 1-2 times a week and the basket value is higher than in physical stores