The 2014 study targeted 21,000 customers from 21 countries. About 9 to 10 percent of purchases are done online in Europe. In case of food it is 1-2 percent, fashion and clothing about 19 percent and books 30 percent, Walter Woefler, head of retail at CEE CBRE, told the press in mid January. Nearly 90 percent of people who want to shop however go to the shop.
“They first find the products on the internet, make an online survey and then buy it in a brick and mortar shop,” Woefler said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Peter Pohanka, letting manager at CBRE, added that a few years ago, the shopping centres perceived the online shopping as an unchanging phenomenon. This has, however ,changed.
“On one hand the traditional brick and mortar retails open new channels via the internet, but on the other hand the shops which started on the internet appear in shopping centres,” Pohanka told the press.
As an example, he mentioned the bookstore Martinus, and also e-shops like Mall.sk, Alza.sk and Hej.sk. There is also an increase in premises where the customers can get in person a perfume which they ordered online.
Woefler called the connection between e-shopping and brick and mortar shops the main aim of contemporary retailers.
“The vendors in fact are not interested in delivering goods from logistics centres to their clients as it is costly and causes them losses,” he said, as quoted by TASR.
This article is published as part of Spectator College, a programme created by The Slovak Spectator with the support of Petit Academy Foundation and Orange Foundation . A glossary of words as well as an exercise related to this article are also published online.
