Attitudes towards distance shopping in CEE countries

2010-08-04

Taking into account all forms of distance shopping, such as purchases made domestically, cross-border and cross-border face-to-face, 52% of all EU consumers made at least one distance purchase in the last 12 months. Among CEE countries the Czech Republic and Poland were leading with only 1 p.p. below the EU average. On the other side of the scale, from among the CEE countries distance shopping was least common among Romanians (24%) and Bulgarians (17%).

Preferences towards distance shopping differs depending on the country
The most of EU inhabitants, that is 49%, made distance purchases from sellers located in the buyer’s home country in the last 12 months, according to the Eurobarometer survey. Poland is the only country from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) which overtook the average by 1%, and the Czech Republic is situated just behind, with 48%.
When it comes to cross-border shopping, more Europeans prefer to acquire goods face-to-face than by mail, 24% to 9% respectively. Slovaks are among the most willing cross-border buyers, with 13% respondents, and 10^th position in the EU, whereas the rest of the CEE countries are below the average EU level. Czechs, on the other hand, are the biggest spenders as far as face-to-face cross-border shopping is concerned. Thirty-one percent of Czech citizens decided to acquire goods while abroad, which makes the country the leader in the CEE group, with only 20% of Poles and 18% of both Hungarians and Slovaks on the further positions.



Internet remains the most popular channel for distance shopping
When it comes to channels of buying goods in distance shopping, it was found that the Internet is the most popular medium, with 38% of consumers choosing this medium for their remote purchases, overtaking traditional mail order (23%), and telephone shopping used by only 14% of Europeans.
In the past 12 months, only two countries in the CEE region, Poland and the Czech Republic, surpassed the European average in terms of the number of orders made through the medium of the Internet. Over the period about 42% of the Polish consumers made a distance purchase using the Internet, with 40% of Czechs just behind. On the other hand, Romania is more than three times below (12%) the European average.
When it comes to catalogues and mail order as the mediums of distance purchasing, Slovakia is the only country above the EU average with 34% of orders made through this medium. Worthy of note, when compared with other European countries, the country is on the second place in this category, with 37%, behind only Austria, Germany and Estonia, above. It is also the only CEE country in which catalogues and mail order were the most popular means of distance shopping, beating even the Internet.
Telephone orders are the least popular way of distant purchasing in the CEE region, with all the countries below the 14% average. Polish consumers were the most willing to order goods by phone, with 11%, while second position belonged to both the Czech Republic and Romania.



Hungarians found to be spending least, while Romanians keen on buying expensive goods
As for the total value spent on the goods or services purchased by distance from another EU country, the majority of Europeans tend to spend moderate sums, with 30% of consumers paying less than €100 and 40% between €100-500.
The biggest spenders among the CEE countries seem to be Romanians. Twenty-three percent of consumers from this country declared spending more than €1,000 on distance shopping, which is almost double the ratio of the EU average (12%).
The second-largest threshold was established between €500 and €1,000 and it so happens that, apart from Hungary with 8%, all CEE consumers declared spending more in this threshold than the average European.
Hungary, on the other hand was noted on the first place when it comes to spending the least, i.e., not more than €100, and was the only CEE country above the European average in this threshold, with 34% to 30%.
When it comes to the most often spent amount of money in the EU as a whole, i.e., between €100-500, Poland noted the highest percentage of respondents in the CEE region, 52%, with Hungary and Romania just below, with 49% and 46% respectively. Slovakia as the only country in the group was noted below the average, with 34%.



The role of distance purchase especially via the Internet to increase in the future
Overall, in the past 12 months, 38% of all EU citizens made a distance purchase on the Internet, while 23% used the post (catalogues, mail order, etc.) and 14% made a distance purchase by phone. These figures represent a 5 p.p. increase for internet distance sales, while mail order and telephone sales became less frequent than in the corresponding period of 2008.
We expect a similar trend in the CEE countries. At the moment, in the CEE region, consumers prefer to acquire goods domestically and via the Internet, which is on the increase as in times of the crisis, when purchases via Internet are gaining in popularity due to the smaller prices and larger choice.
In turn, when it comes to cross-border buying, it still remains on a relatively low level in the CEE. Concerning the distance cross-border purchases, CEE citizens are more willing to spend their money face-to-face, while being on holiday, or during business trips abroad.

Paulina Burzawa, Business Editor, PMR Publications

in cooperation with:
Anna Giś, PMR Czech Correspondent
and
Bartosz Rumieńczyk