E-commerce in Croatia has been growing since the country joined the EU in 2013. The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated increased use of e-commerce, and we expect this trend to continue as retailers have already developed e-commerce platforms and users are now familiar with the concept. Market data firm Statista projects the value of the e-commerce market in Croatia in 2023 will reach $1.3 billion and that ecommerce in Croatia will show an annual growth rate of 10.40 percent through 2027. Statista estimates Croatia will have 2.9 million e-commerce users in 2023 averaging $509 in revenue per user, with e-commerce penetration expected to grow from 64.5% in 2023 to 69% in 2027.
The association eCommerce Croatia (https://ecommerce.hr/) conducted a survey in 2020 and found that 61% of internet users have made at least one online purchase, while 36% of surveyed people purchase online on a monthly basis. 21% of buyers use credit cards to pay for their online orders. The most popular payment gateways are WSpay (38%), T-Com (32%), and CorVus (22%). PayPal and other similar services are used by about 20% of buyers. A growing trend is the use of smart phone payment applications issued by banks. Market research in 2021 indicated that more than 98% of young people in Croatia access the internet through smartphones, and mobile phones are expected to be the most common device used for online purchases. Native advertising, ads integrated with the content and style of the web page, is increasingly popular. An estimated 80% of Croatian companies advertise by e-mail, while 80% of online retailers use Facebook as their advertising channel. Facebook is the most popular social media platform, followed by Instagram and LinkedIn. Twitter is popular among politicians and journalists. Snapchat and YouTube also have a lot of active, younger users, and the Chinese platform TikTok is quickly gaining popularity.
An estimated 40% of Croatian online shoppers order from stores outside of Croatia, mostly from China and the EU. The market’s largest segment is media and electronics, with a market value of $208 million in 2020. Online shoppers also buy clothing, shoes, fashion accessories and food. About 40% of Croatian online retailers serve exclusively the Croatian market, while another 40% are open to global markets. The EU Digital Single Market Strategy is providing Croats full access to all goods and services offered online by businesses in the EU. The Strategy further regulates payments, customer rights and privacy policy.
Amazon, eBay, and AliExpress are the most popular e-commerce platforms in Croatia. The largest local sites are eKupi (Croatian platform similar to Amazon), Emmezeta (furniture store) and Konzum (grocery store). Mall, Zuti klik, Abrakadabra are also popular e-commerce platforms.
An estimated 40% of Croatian businesses are active in e-commerce, and retailers are increasing their use of new technologies and business models (such as voice-driven purchasing or requiring customer subscriptions to access certain products or services). According to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) report for 2022, 29% of Croatian SMEs sell online (above the EU average of 18%), while 13% of all SMEs are selling across borders with 13% of turnover coming from the online segment. Croatian media heavily promotes online shopping.