Index Balík: Trends in Czech e-commerce?

Czechs take first place within Europe  in their online shopping and increasingly use pick-up boxes for their deliveries. Nearly 60% of shoppers choose them as a delivery option for goods purchased online, valuing them above all for their availability and flexibility. Online sales of used clothing and electronics have become a phenomenon, with a third of Czechs regularly sending such parcels. This follows from the first year of the Index Balík survey of the PPL CZ transport company. 

The vast majority of Czechs who are active internet users  shop online (96%). As the main motivation why people prefer not to go to shops, Czechs cited convenience first, followed by time flexibility. Less than half of domestic consumers are comfortable with online shopping because they do not have a brick-and-mortar store in their area that would offer the goods they need. This follows from a survey of the PPL delivery provider Index Balík, which took place in April this year. The data collection was carried out through the Instant Research app of Ipsos. "Czechs really like shopping directly from their mobile phones, with 70% of customers saying that they save at least 4 hours a month thanks to online shopping, and 17% save as much as 12 hours that they would otherwise spend in shops or travelling to them," says Lenka Vitovská, Communications Manager at PPL CZ. 

 

 

 

Boxes are booming – more than half of Czechs direct their orders there

Parcel boxes are experiencing a significant increase in popularity, with nearly two-thirds of customers using them for pick-up, the vast majority (95%) at least once a month. Czechs have quickly become accustomed to the newest form of delivery because they can pick up their parcels at any time of the day or night and do not have to follow opening or working hours. Customers appreciate the fact that the boxes can be found in locations where there are otherwise no shops that could be pick-up points, for example, in residential blocks of flats. Almost two-thirds of people choose to have their parcels delivered to a box because of its better location. 

"The option of picking up parcels from boxes has many advantages. In addition to flexibility, some customers who use boxes appreciate the option of picking up parcels without personal contact and with greater privacy. This especially applies to younger customers under 35 years of age, who are not so keen on personal contact or who want to pick up more private orders alone," says Vitovská.  

 

After work, straight to the box. Preferably one that's close to home

According to the survey, 6 out of 10 Czechs go to the box after work to pick up a parcel. They usually choose boxes near their home. A fifth of Czechs manage to pick up their parcel in between going to the gym, meeting friends or other leisure activities. "People rarely pick up an order before work, they would have to have the parcel with them all day. Only 9% of customers run to a box before work or on their lunch break to pick up their parcels," Vitovská says. 

 

 

 

"Czechs spend the most time shopping on the internet of any European country and have lately really taken to boxes. We therefore want to make it as easy as possible for customers to pick up parcels in this flexible way and respond to the growing demand. We are constantly working on expanding our already dense network of PPL boxes, which this year we plan to increase to 2,100 PPL Parcelboxes," Vitovská adds.

During this year, PPL CZ not only plans to expand the number of boxes, but also their types. In addition to the existing PPL Parcelboxes, which can hold up to 75 parcels, customers will also be able to use modular boxes. Smaller eco-boxes powered by solar energy will be another fresh innovation.

 

Parcel pick-up made even easier with the mojePPL mobile app

PPL also cooperates with local brick-and-mortar stores. Currently, in addition to self-service boxes, customers can also use over 4,200 PPL Parcelshops for picking-up or sending shipments. The company plans to cover the pick-up points and boxes so that people across the country can get to the nearest one within five minutes in the city and within 10 minutes outside the city.

The mojePPL mobile app is becoming increasingly popular. "Customers just need to log in to the app, where all shipment details are automatically entered and stored, using the email they enter when ordering goods online. They have everything they need to pick up or place a shipment in one place," Vitovská says. The mojePPL app provides parcel tracking and pick-up, as well as easy parcel shipping.

Czechs are increasingly selling online 

Czechs also like online sales platforms where they can give away their unwanted clothes or used consumer electronics, and more than a third of Czechs regularly sell goods in this way. According to the survey, almost half of these people use pick-up points to send parcels, while one-fifth send parcels through boxes. "As the popularity of various marketplaces, some of which are integrated on social networks, has increased, so have the number of scams, which unfortunately include our brand. We constantly warn our customers to beware of fraudulent sites. A common tactic of scammers is that they pose as potential buyers of the goods and promise to pick them up by courier with a link to a fraudulent site where they claim payment will be accepted. In the form, they ask for such details as date of birth, login to online banking and then a credit card number. PPL CZ would never ask such details of you. If a retailer wants to ship a parcel, they have to go to the official PPL CZ website or the mojePPL mobile app and follow the shipping instructions," Vitovská points out.

 

1 Source: https://www.dhl.com/content/dam/dhl/global/dhl-spotlight/documents/pdf/dhl-ecommerce-european-eshopper-survey.pdf

2 According to the Czech Statistical Office, 3.9 million Czech households are currently connected. While almost all families with children and young families without children were connected (99.7%), only one in two of the households of seniors (people over 65 years old) had access to the Internet. Source: https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/cesi-si-oblibili-internetove-bankovnictvi-a-nakupovani

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Note to the editors 
The PPL CZ survey was conducted on 15 April to 18 April 2024 on a representative sample of 1,050 respondents aged 18-65 years from all regions of the Czech Republic. Data collection was carried out through the Ipsos Instant Research app.