The world’s largest players and beginners with rocket growth of success. During the first half of 2022, several events shook the world of e-commerce. We looked at the basic e-commerce news in the European region – and we summarise the important players in red and green numbers and also look at interesting acquisitions, market movements, investments, startups and news in the field of logistics. 

How is European e-commerce doing?

• A huge drop in Czech e-commerce for the first quarter by 25 to 50%. According to experts, the decline was anticipated. It was caused not only by the end of the pandemic but also by inflation and the conflict in Ukraine. Over the long term, however, the numbers are holding on and remain above the pre-pandemic level; the data in the coming months should be more positive.
• European e-commerce is generally slowing. In comparison with last year, the volume of sales in the first quarter fell by 13% in Europe, by 3% globally. The reason is mainly inflation, lower purchasing power and high fuel costs. Do you want to know which indicators to monitor and how to keep your e-shop from going into the red? Read our blog on KPI performance monitoring.
• Poland plans to reduce VAT to 12%. It is responding to the acute economic impacts of the war; current rate of income tax is 17%.
• Inflation in the near future will also significantly impact the world of e-commerce. At an e-commerce Summit in the Czech Republic, leading personalities of Czech e-commerce, such as T. Bravermann from the Heureka Group and others, agreed on this.

In red numbers: players with losses and financial problems

• The Dedoles dancing hamsters are paying for their ambitions and are looking for an investor. The financial problems of the Slovak company continue, and stabilisation, layoffs and hindering of the brand growth are coming.
• The Internet group Mall Group and WeDo are again making a loss: 20 million euros. The latest red numbers were published by the new owner – the Polish group Allegro, and Czech and Slovak investors may also pay for the falling prices.
• German Zalando reports a loss for the first time in 10 years. They note the end of the pandemic boost, and customer behaviour in their view is also more cautious due to rising inflation and rising household costs.

Green numbers and rising stars

• Alza reported record turnover in the Czech Republic – 1.8 billion euros. The largest e-shop in the Czech Republic grew by 20% year-on-year and continues to strengthen its dominant position.
• The Czech pharmaceutical group Pilulka broke the record with an annual turnover of 144 million euros. Online sales increased overall by 35%, and thanks to the pandemic profits climbed to 2.68 million euros. The online pharmacy is responding to the exceptional success by growing the e-shop and expanding to foreign markets.
• Aktin, a Brno-based seller of fitness nutrition and clothing, is experiencing rocket growth. They closed last year with a turnover of 14.7 million euros, which is 30% higher than the previous year. The success is mainly due to the original brand of products (Vilgain) and new collections of its own clothing. The brand is also preparing to expand into other European countries.
• The Czech family firm Ovečkarna is aiming for a turnover of EUR 40 million. It already sells its wide range of wool products in five European countries with an average margin of 24%.
• Kytary.cz, a popular e-shop with musical instruments, set a record. The revenues of the largest Czech e-commerce player in the field of music exceeded 40 million euros last year, and they also tested a new unique method of delivering goods with the help of drones.
• The Chinese e-shop Shein is conquering the world market with fast fashion. The Internet giant is recording a meteoric rise; sales have grown by 398% in two years. Shein can now be considered the world’s largest online fashion brand.

Key moves and expansions you shouldn’t miss 

• The Czech online supermarket Rohlík is heading to Spain. This favourite grocery e-shop plans to expand; it will start delivering groceries in Madrid and later in Barcelona. The Czech company plans to invest more than 40 million euros here over the coming five years.
• The successful Polish e-shop Allegro opened to European expansion. It is already available in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and England and enables customers to purchase goods from 135 thousand different merchants with delivery within three days. The e-shop is currently available in Polish and English.
• Allegro also definitively bought the Mall Group and WeDo. In April, the Polish e-shop announced the successful completion of the acquisition for 881 million euros after five months. Allegro is already one of the ten largest online stores in the world.

Investments in European e-commerce

• The Slovak company Across e-commerce acquired a 50% share and executive management authority in the Digital People group. This group includes e-shops such as Zoot, Different, Urban Store and Bibloo, and the Slovak company is becoming a key strategic investor. The exact figures are not known, but it is estimated that it obtained this position for hundreds of millions of Czech crowns.
• Fashion brand Vuch from the Czech Republic obtained an investment from the eRockets fund. The fund’s management acquired a 15% share in the company and plans to help it grow into a billion-dollar business.
• Reflex Capital is investing in PPC Bee, which has developed an application for automation and management of digital campaigns. The Prague investment company headed by Ondrej Fryc plans to invest tens of millions of Czech crowns in the new application for a 12.4% stake.
• The Rockaway investment group bought a 20% stake in Alkohol.cz. The e-shop, which sells more premium alcoholic beverages, had a turnover of 8 million euros and thanks to a new investor is planning to penetrate beyond the borders.

Startups

• GoPay is joining forces with the Czech startup Lemonero. They will together offer the chance for rapid financing even to completely new players in e-commerce on the basis of data on store performance.
• Inventoro is receiving an investment worth more than 800 thousand euros. The successful Czech startup focused on inventory optimising inventories and product sales estimates using artificial intelligence decided on the Presto Ventures fund. Investors will send the company 20 million Czech crowns for a 14% stake in the company.
• Brno startup Disivo, which helps with setting prices in e-shops, is aiming for a valuation of 10 million euros.  The successful company operating in the field of pricing has a wide clientele and is currently preparing a new investor round with an investment of around 1.5 billion euros.
• The startup project Do-Do is raising more than 60 million. The company MFresh Holding has decided to invest into the Czech startup providing food logistics to a major player in the segment.
• Lithuanian startup Kevin received an investment of 60 million euros. The aim of the new fintech company is to innovate payments in e-shops and replace Mastercard or Visa. Czech Zľavomat is already launching this payment method, and dozens of e-shops there also use it. The total value of the investment in the startup has risen to nearly 73 million euros.

News in the field of logistics

• Alza is planning to handle shipment from the warehouse within 30 minutes. The popular e-shop is investing more than one billion Czech crowns into expansion, streamlining and automating its warehouse near Prague. According to forecasts, the speed of preparation of one order should increase by 75%.
• Packeta expands into the Baltics. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will thus be able to send parcels to all 33 countries in which the former Zásielkovňa operates. The Polish delivery company has increased four-fold the number of delivered packages in recent months.

Other interesting data

• ADMA published a price list of average hourly rates for employees of member agencies. The sums without VAT, according to the Association of Digital Marketing Agencies, range between 55 – 75 euros, with the job position being decisive.
• The Czech company Lobey.cz obtained 22 million organic views thanks to the videos on TikTok. The popular e-shop with women’s cosmetics in 2021 achieved turnover of 2.8 million euros and is proof that there is still little competition and plenty of room for growth on this social network.

Interested in more? Read other interesting news from the world of e-commerce.