How to expand your e-shop to the Czech Republic and Slovakia?

Today we will briefly talk about what Czech and Slovak e-commerce is like. Both countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia) are very similar in terms of e-commerce, which is why we included them in a joint overview.

This is valuable information, which is mainly suitable for e-shops from neighboring countries, that is, from Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine.

In the Czech Republic, there are approximately 8 million users who regularly use the Internet, the vast majority of them also shop in e-shops. There are around 4 million users in Slovakia.

According to data from Heureka, there are approximately 50,000 e-shops in the Czech Republic (source), and approximately 15,000 e-shops in Slovakia (source). Considering the number of inhabitants (around 16 million), these are very competitive e-commerce markets.

As for the Czech and Slovak e-commerce, there is quite a lot of competition between e-shops. They often use performance marketing channels and price comparison sites. In both countries, campaigns via Google Ads are used the most, and the use of Microsoft Ads is gradually increasing. Seznam and its advertising platform Sklik are also relatively strong in the Czech Republic.

In order for e-shops to gain a competitive advantage, various automation tools are often used. They help with more effective campaigns, for example BlueWinston, Luigi’s box, Mergado and others.

Users like to visit price comparison sites. Price comparator Heureka (CZ, SK) has roughly 60% share, while other comparison sites have a combined share of around 40%.

As for online marketplaces, they are not yet very developed in those countries, but they are rather growing. Among the most visited marketplaces are Heureka, Kaufland, Allegro, Alza trade, Zoot and Sashe.

As for the distribution of e-commerce turnover, there are approximately 20 large e-shops on the Czech and Slovak market, which account for around 50% of the total Czech and Slovak e-commerce turnover. And the other half of the turnover is accounted for by approximately 65,000 e-shops.

Czech and Slovak customers are in certain aspects similar to customers in other Central and Eastern European countries. A large part of traffic comes from Google search and in the Czech Republic also from Seznam. Users also often look at product reviews on price comparison sites, Heureka being the most used.

Subsequently, users choose several e-shops and decide according to the e-shop, product description, price and other factors. Pay attention not only to a suitable price, but also to high-quality product descriptions and nice pictures.

As for customer support, it is recommended for Czech customers to have support in Czech language, for Slovak customers in Slovak language. Both countries understand each other’s language but it’s more trustworthy to native language speakers on support channels.

As for the most common payment methods, card payment is very popular in those markets. In the past, cash on delivery was also popular, but its share is decreasing and today it can make up around 20% of all payments.

As for package delivery, e-shops most often use Packeta, DHL, Czech Post, Slovak Post, PPL and GLS. In addition to those, there are also smaller carriers on the market, for example WE|DO and Balíkobot.cz. Larger e-shops commonly arrange the transport of packages themselves.

Users often and gladly use delivery to pick-up points and self-service boxes. This way they can pick up the package when it suits them.

Regarding the delivery speed, we advise the delivery time to be within 1-3 days. Longer delivery times may harm the reputation of your e-shop and customers may not buy from you next time.

Several large e-shops operate in both countries at the same time. For you, this means that you can be inspired by them, or their segments, which you also focus on.

• Alza (CZ and SK)
• Allegro (CZ and SK)
• Okay (CZ and SK)
• CZC (CZ)
• TPD (SK)
• Electro World (CZ)
• Nay (SK)

As for Google and Microsoft Ads campaigns, it is recommended to start with performance campaigns for Google search and Bing. On our blog, you can read the article about In which order you can run performance campaigns. Those campaigns have a potential to bring orders almost immediately after launch and should not be overlooked.

For Performance Max campaigns and Product Text campaigns, you can use PPC automation and special functions through BlueWinston to get higher campaign performance. On our blog you can see What results (ROAS or ACOS) can be achieved from BlueWinston campaigns.

For Google Performance Max campaigns, you can also use our CSS Shopping in EU service to have better prices for clicks and thus have an advantage over your competition.

You can also register the e-shop in the biggest price comparison sites. You can start with Heureka and if you sell a specific segment (e.g. fashion), you can also continue on specialized price comparison sites.

In Czech and Slovak markets you can find the following biggest price comparison sites:

• Heureka (SK and CZ)
• Zboží (CZ)
• Glami (CZ and SK) – focus on fashion
• Favi (CZ and SK) – focus on furniture and decorations
• Srovname (CZ)
• Najnakup (SK)
• Pricemania (SK)

As we have already mentioned, online marketplaces are starting to be used more and more in the Czech and Slovak e-commerce market. So far, they have a relatively low share of the total e-commerce turnover, but their popularity is increasing quite rapidly.

We therefore recommend that you consider selling your products at least on the main online marketplaces –Heureka (CZ, SK), Kaufland (CZ, SK) and Allegro (CZ).

In recent years, Czech and Slovak e-commerce markets have grown significantly, despite the fact that there is a lot of competition between e-shops. The Czech and Slovak e-commerce markets are divided between several large e-shops (Alza being the strongest) and a large number of small and medium-sized e-shops. Try to differentiate yourself from your direct competition and get closer to the top e-shops in your segment.

Whether you want to expand your sales in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, or expand into these countries, focus mainly on performance campaigns (Google Ads, Microsoft Ads) and price comparison sites. This is the fastest way to get orders and start advertising through other platforms (Social networks, Display & Video 360, etc.).

Also consider online marketplaces, since right now they might bring you less, but being there before your competition is a tremendous jumpstart.