Hungary’s online retail trade exceeds expectations

22. 05. 2014.

Hungary’s online retail webshops generated a HUF 217 billion turnover last year, which equals 3.1% of the total Hungarian retail trade volume. The number of transactions effected with mobile phones and tablets is growing, and Hungarians still prefer to collect the ordered goods personally, eNET’s retail e-commerce research results for 2013 indicate.

Exceeding expectations

Last year, the country’s online retail trade volume once again exceeded expectations, reaching a total turnover of HUF 217 billion. Thus the sector’s share of overall retail trade grew further, to 3.1%. B2C sales on marketplaces raised the turnover by another HUF 10 billion. The most popular product categories were computers and electronics entertainment devices, home equipment, as well as toys and presents. Clothing is catching up after dynamic growth. The better-than-expected sales figures are partly attributable to strong performance by new, large companies (Tesco, Media Markt, eMAG), and partly to dynamic expansion by existing major market players.

Cash still dominates

Cash upon receipt of the goods remained the most popular payment method, even though its share decreased somewhat. More clients paid with bank cards upon receipt than in previous years. The number of payments through Hungarian payment service providers went up considerably, but the overall share of that payment method is still marginal. The average basket size in e-commerce market was HUF 7,800 in 2013, 300 forints higher than in 2012.

Hungarians favour to collect the goods personally

Measured by the purchase value, delivery by courier service is the most popular, but more and more customers choose to collect the goods in a shop or at another delivery point. This is partly due to the fact that these are the three most frequent delivery methods offered in Hungarian online stores.

Mobile platforms in the limelight

More and more Hungarian webshops optimize their websites for mobile devices or develop mobile applications. The mobile platform is becoming increasingly important, both concerning the turnover and the number of visitors / purchasers. In the overall online retail market, the share of visitors arriving from the mobile platform (8.5%) grew by 50% in one year. As to the number of purchasers, this ratio is slightly lower (4.3%). And almost 5% of the entire online trade volume was effected from the mobile platform.

Foreign shops are also popular

In May 2014, eNET comprehensively researched how Hungarians bought goods over the Internet, including purchases from foreign webshops. Transactions launched in Hungary but effected on foreign sites are also included in retail trade, even though the Central Statistics Office omits their data, and they are naturally not reported by Hungarian e-commerce companies. That is why it is crucially important that Hungarians should be interviewed. Almost three of four regular internet-users over 18 years of age have bought goods from the Internet in the past year, and 37% has purchased articles from abroad. Foreign webshops can be especially attractive to those who seek goods not available in Hungary. Interest in entertainment electronics and clothing (among others) is very lively.

eNET