Citing the boost e-commerce could give Hungary’s productivity and innovation, the Hungarian Government continues to place a high priority on advancing this sector. E-commerce had a slow start in Hungary but has been booming in recent years. The most developed segment is E-banking. Even though, in previous years, the new online shopper growth rate had slowed down, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a significant growth in e-commerce. E-commerce in Hungary is expected to have a USD 2,749 billion total turnover in 2023, representing 6.2% of the total retail trade. Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate of 7.3%, resulting in a market volume of USD 2.706 billion by 2023. Online retail and web-shop concepts have been growing steadily since 2010. According to Eurostat data, around 70% of Hungarians shopped online in 2022, a figure which remains below the EU average of 75%. Products purchased most frequently online include books, coupons, IT and electronic gadgets, insurance services, e-tickets, and holiday reservations. More than 70% of orders included home delivery, and most Hungarian online shoppers prefer cash payment upon delivery. Both males and females use online retailing equally. Most e-commerce revenue, nearly 40%, is generated in the last two months of the year before the holidays (Black Friday and Christmas).
In addition, the average value of the online shopping cart is higher than that of traditional purchases. The average cart size increased from HUF 7,500 (USD 27) to HUF 11,600 (USD 42) during the last five years. The average revenue per user per year currently amounts to USD 300.70. Online customers are more inclined to spend a bigger sum in one go.
The biggest player in the Hungarian eCommerce Market is emag.hu. The store had a revenue of USD 230 million in 2022. USD 150 million in 2021. It is followed by Alza with USD 137 million revenue and Media Markt with USD 117 million revenue. The 4th and 5th places are taken by IKEA and kifli.hu. The revenue of fifteen eCommerce market players in Hungary accounted for HUF 565 billion (USD 1,66 billion) in 2022 representing a 9% increase compared to 2021.