Czechs will have their Christmas presents brought home this year.

This year, Czechs prefer to have their Christmas presents brought home rather than pick them up themselves. This results from a survey of the consulting company Acomware for selected e-shops. Such a situation can greatly complicate the work of carriers and cause delays in shipments. Due to the great interest, there is also a risk of a shortage of some electronics.

In the run-up to Christmas, online retailers are expecting an extreme rush of orders. The currently valid measures in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic lead to the fact that more people will buy Christmas presents online this year. "It is good for customers that e-shops plan to launch their Christmas campaigns and discount events already at the end of October or the beginning of November. That's why they don't have to postpone their purchases until the last minute." David Vurma clarifies the survey results of the consulting company Acomware. Traditionally, most Czechs shop from the end of November to the third week of December.

The pressure on transport will be enormous

There is a reason for the October start of pre-Christmas campaigns and discount events. Among other things, e-shops are trying to get customers to spread out their purchases over time, thereby easing the pre-Christmas rush. "With regard to epidemiological developments and the expected shift of customers from brick-and-mortar stores to e-commerce, it can be expected that the pressure on transport will be extreme this year. Carriers have a difficult situation due to a labor shortage, with tens of thousands of foreign workers coming to the economy. This may result in a slight delay in shipments.” points out Radek Ondrašík from Notino.cz.

At the same time, e-shops expect that Czechs will prefer delivery of ordered goods to collection at a branch this year. "We are going for a higher share of goods delivered directly to the home," confirms Tomáš Pilský, commercial director of CZC.cz. The willingness of people to visit places with a greater concentration of people will decrease. "Purchases will increasingly be delivered to vending machines, the number of which is growing rapidly," reminds Vurma of the plans of a number of e-shops and shipping companies to increase the number of vending machines before the end of the year.

We will not cancel the guarantee, the e-shops promise

Sellers and carriers are actively preparing for the risk of shipment delays. However, they do not yet plan to limit the guarantee of timely delivery of Christmas gifts. "We will provide the same guarantee as last year," confirms Ondrašík from Notino. Other contacted companies are also planning the same guarantees, but at the same time they are ready to limit or even cancel them if the situation requires it.

Some e-shops will solve bigger problems with delayed shipments in their own way. "We shut down riskier carriers that are at risk of delays on the e-shop in good time," Kristýna Křížová from the toy store Agátina svět reveals her strategy. The Footshop.cz e-shop is ready to end advertising campaigns earlier in regions where there may be a risk of late delivery of orders.

The coronavirus measures may worsen the situation

The current bad situation with the coronavirus can make the situation even worse for carriers. "During the first wave, after the measures were introduced, we observed a large drop in sales for most e-shops. But within about 10 days, people's interest grew enormously, and a large part of e-shops experienced great economic success in the following months." thinks Vurma. According to him, it is possible that the current measures will have a similar effect. "Demand for e-shops would decrease in the short term, or rather, it would not grow so dramatically year-on-year. This would move part of the shopping even closer to Christmas. This will not benefit the carriers,” supplies.

But there are those who do not expect problems with transport. This mainly applies to e-shops that completely or partially manage the transport themselves. "Compared to last Christmas, we do not expect deviations from delivery times," says Michal Hanáček from Pilulka.cz. The company is to be helped in this by its own transport, with which the company will provide the strictest guarantee of on-time delivery.

The lack of electronics is real

Increased interest in pre-Christmas shopping was already evident at some retailers in September. "For us, the launch of sales of the PlayStation 5 took care of this. Thanks to it, sales came close to the Black Friday shopping holiday," reveals Pilský from CZC.cz. Agátina svět or TESCOMA also confirms that people have been buying more since the end of September. "The Christmas season starts at the beginning of October almost every year," confirms Radim Roženek from TESCOMA.

While most e-shops have enough goods in stock before Christmas, electronics may be missing. "Increased interest in certain goods is already causing shortages and the situation will worsen before Christmas," reports Pilský from CZC.cz. This applies, for example, to laptops, which will be in short supply due to quarantine measures and increased customer interest. There is also a greater demand for consoles, televisions or webcams.

MEDIA CONTACT

Kamil Gric

kamil.gric@acomware.cz

+420 737 289 527

ABOUT ACOMWARE

Acomware is a specialized consulting company for e-commerce and digital marketing. Since 2002, he has been helping companies achieve the best possible results in his environment. It increases sales, builds new brands or improves customer care. The company's services are used by retail chains, e-shops and manufacturing companies.

The Czech e-commerce scene is a home for Acomware, which it is actively trying to develop and cultivate. He participates in the development and implementation of new tools and technologies, trains experts and enthusiasts. On the website www.acomware.cz publishes unique research and studies. He is the organizer of the Performance 2020, Emailing 2020 conferences and the Eshopista discussion cycle.