Czech online stores are waiting for new records as part of this year’s Black Friday shopping holiday. The growth in sales, in addition to discounts, is mainly strengthened by the fact that stone shops have closed.
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“Given the current measures and the epidemic situation, we have been seeing for several weeks now that people are dealing with gift purchases on the Internet more than ever before,” says Pavla Hobíková, spokeswoman for the Mall.cz e-shop, for the News List.
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Originally the American shopping holiday Black Friday this year officially falls on Friday 27 November. In the Czech Republic, however, discounts under this name began to appear at the beginning of the month. „3. In November, about 5 percent of retailers offered discounts. In the middle of the month, 17 percent of trades participated. And today, 56 percent of stores can be bought at a discount, “says David Vurma from the consulting company Acomware, which conducted a survey on the topic of price events.
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Black Friday
American Black Friday, translated as Black Friday, is an imaginary holiday of discounts for customers, and the chance to buy goods – such as Christmas presents – is significantly cheaper. For retailers, on the other hand, the holiday is the driving force behind their sales before Christmas. This discount promotion is taken over by countries all over the world, including the Czech Republic, following the example of the USA.
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Records will be set this year
It was the Mall online store that launched its sales events on Black Friday in mid-October with 2,000 products. Gradually, however, he involved more and more of them. “In total, there were almost 30,000 items on offer, and now at the end of the event, customers can choose from more than 11,000 products,” describes Hobíková.
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“These days, we process 40 percent more orders per day than last year. Compared to September this year, for example, it is even three times as much, “she added.
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The largest online store in the Czech Republic, Alza.cz, also counts on good results. The event has been running on its website since mid-November and this weekend, as on other e-shops, will culminate. According to information provided for Seznam Zprávy, the store included goods worth 1.8 billion crowns in this year’s event.
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“In November, we expect a turnover of 5 billion crowns, which represents a year-on-year growth of more than a third. The increase in the number of pieces of goods sold is even higher, by more than 60%, “says Alza Daniela Chovancová, spokeswoman for the online store, for Seznam Zprávy.
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In practice, according to her, such growth means that during November, the company received one order almost every second, for a whole month.
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“The strongest day on Black Friday so far was Tuesday, November 24, but today we expect a new daily turnover record,” Chovancová announced her business.
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There is no discount as a discount
According to the information available, product prices are falling more than last year as part of the event. Roughly every fifth store this year has reduced the price of its entire range. The average amount of such a discount is almost 25 percent. “It pays to save everything in the offer for shops with goods on which they have a large margin. These are, for example, clothes or toys, “explains Vurma from the consulting company Acomware. Such discounts are usually credible because the store deducts the discount from its margin. “It simply came to our notice then. For example, in the case of electronics, it pays to verify the age of the model, a lot of sale goods went on sale, “he adds.
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Over half a million Czechs will take advantage of discounts today
According to Shoptet, more than half a million customers will also be involved in shopping in Czech e-shops this year on Black Friday. “But mostly these are natural discounts. That is, those that relate to sale items, such as older consumer electronics models. E-shops will reduce their prices before Christmas to make them easier to sell. Then they will increase the price again, so that a few weeks later they can attract customers to New Year’s sales, “explains Miroslav Uďan, CEO of Shoptet.
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In the case of smaller online stores, according to Shoptet, discounts will average only about 15 percent. Black Friday pullers are traditionally mainly large e-shops, many smaller ones do not participate in it, often due to missing marketing campaigns. Sales promotions only make sense for online stores if they can attract enough customers and can thus get rid of stocks.
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Rather, don’t expect fast delivery
However, due to the hectic situation, there is a problem with the capacity of e-shops and carriers. “Many of them are currently at twice the normal capacity. Some logistics companies have already started restricting the receipt of shipments this week. And there are also problems with some e-shops, whose shipping capacities are exhausted, “says Vurma. Customers should therefore take into account that their shipments may be delayed. “If ordinary shops do not open from Monday, the situation will get worse. Delivery times of one week may not be an exception, “he added.
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Possible capacity problems are also confirmed by the Mall group, where customer interest is high and continues to grow every day.
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“We have contracted with our logistics partners the maximum capacities they were able to offer us. Like our warehouse, they have their limits, both in terms of the number of drivers and cars. Therefore, if the customer chooses delivery of home to the address as the method of delivery, it often depends on the specific situation of the carrier, which currently differs. As for possible delays, there are carriers that have not reported any complications yet, but there are also those who now deliver two days later than announced, “the Mall spokesman describes the current delays.
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There seems to be no reason to wait for online gift orders, quite the contrary. “In any case, we would like to recommend to customers not to delay buying gifts and to start ordering as soon as possible,” he adds.
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Queues and invitation to pick up goods
Alza also calls for the same step. At present, queues are no exception before its dispensaries. And capacity problems are not just at the dispensers themselves. Some so-called AlzaBoxes are also overloaded, in which carriers store packages and where customers can pick them up themselves using a code.
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“Some of the most frequented AlzaBoxes may be full at the peak of their capacity at peak times, which is why we ask customers for quick pick-ups in messages informing them about the introduction of their order,” explains spokeswoman Daniela Chovancová. The company cites the current state of emergency as a reason.
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One of the company’s priorities since the summer is the intensive increase in the number of AlzaBoxes – currently Alza.cz operates more than 350 of these mailboxes in the Czech Republic and adds more every week.
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For transport companies, the Advent period will be a stress test
Due to the growing interest in online shopping, logistics companies are also becoming very burdened.
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“In the year-on-year comparison of the e-commerce segment for the month of November, we are even growing by over 82 percent. From information from customers who use more partners, it is clear that we are facing an Advent period, which will be an unprecedented stress test for all participants, “says Jan Kodada, Sales and Marketing Director of Gebrüder Weiss ČR.
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“The largest, or rather extreme, increases mainly concern parcel transport, ie smaller consignments. For some of our trading partners, demand has increased by more than 100 percent since the government’s October measures were introduced. Our large e-commerce partners demand more than doubling the volume of our services. We have recorded cases where e-shops try to motivate customers to pick up their own goods at their stores in an effort to relieve the extremely busy parcel segment, but there are long queues at certain hours and other epidemiological restrictions are encountered, “says Jan Kodada.
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The upcoming Black Friday with significant discounts will exacerbate this situation, and logistics experts are anxiously awaiting the government’s decision to reopen the stone shops to the public on November 30. “It is possible that retail will try to catch up with unrealized sales by selling out existing stocks quickly, which will bring another need for fast supply from warehouse to stores. Logistics companies are preparing for this situation, to cope with such a concurrence of a sharp increase in e-commerce, the pre-Christmas season and a possible jump in the need to move inventory from central warehouses to stores will be a real challenge for all involved, “says Jan Kodada on behalf of the logistics company.
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Shopping behavior is changing
According to the e-shop, this year’s selection of goods and Christmas gifts also reflects the Czechs’ uncertainty about the further development of the pandemic. Czechs are also realizing that they are likely to spend more time at home, investing more in appliances such as robots or electric and multifunction pots. Home wine shops or coffee machines are now also appearing in the search.
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Changes are also taking place in connection with working from home and distance learning, which has been going on since spring. The shops are still showing great interest in webcams, of which several times more were sold year-on-year in November. According to Alza’s spokeswoman, however, long-term work from home and a change in lifestyle are also evident. “Sales of massage collars, positioning tables and office chairs increased by hundreds of percent,” adds Chovancová.
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