With the Czech government warning that the state of emergency is likely to extend into December, there’s a real chance that stores could remain closed until after the holiday season. With couriers and online shops already having trouble keeping up with the level of demand for their products, its unclear if the country’s online retail system is up to the task of handling an entirely online Christmas. The daily Hospodarske noviny writes that with the second lockdown now in effect, online giants like Alza, CZC.cz, Mall.cz and Datart are having finding it difficult to keep up with demand. But is the situation dramatically worse now than at other times. Most of the companies contacted by the daily claim that customers have gotten used to same-day or next-day delivery and that online social networks make the current delays look more dramatic than they are. Miroslav Kovary of Alza claims that while there was an increase in delays immediately after the second lockdown began in October, only a small percentage of customers are currently experiencing delays. The online retail association APEK predicts that total online sales in 2020 could reach CZK 190 billion, an increase of CZK 35 billion from last year. Mall.cz reported a 60 percent increase in sales during the first wave of the crisis and is preparing for an increase in holiday sales of 40 percent. On the other hand, it’s unclear what the impact of the crisis on consumer appetite over the holidays will be, meaning that the expected tsunami of online shopping may never materialize.
