Czech e-shop revenues to hit record CZK 196 billion in 2020

Czech e-shops made the most of the Covid-19 pandemic, racking up revenues of CZK 196 billion over the course of 2020. According to the Association for Electronic Commerce (APEK) and the online price checker Heureka, that was nearly one-third more (CZK 41 billion) than in 2019 and CZK 61 billion above the record before that in 2018. Heureka's boss Tomas Braverman confirmed that the sales jumped immediately once the first lockdown was compared. "E-commerce was good since the beginning of the year," he said. "We already saw a huge increase in comparisons from the year before beginning in March and April, when retail stores were shut down. The Nielsen agency estimates that year-on-year comparisons were 101 percent higher in the first lockdown, and 91 percent higher during the second period. Sales growth was led by increases in the orders of groceries and day-to-day items such as medicines and drugstore items. Online sales of food and drinks rose 45 percent in 2020, while sports equipment order jumped 43 percent and cosmetics were up 25 percent.