Alza.cz in Numbers: Year 2017

Prague, 31 January 2018 - According to initial results, Alza.cz has achieved a record turnover in 2017 of over €820 million excluding VAT. Year-on-year growth was approximately 20.7%. International growth: CZ +17.9%, SK +19.5%, EU +80%. Hungary has even become the largest market from abroad (about 40% of the total EU).

For the past year, Alza has raised the bar once again a little higher. For the first time in the company's history, the one-day Black Friday event before Christmas has exceeded €8 million in sales. And other numbers grew as well. "In 2017, we served over 2.9 million unique customers, and handled over 7.9 million orders. Almost 30% of them were made from mobile devices," said Deputy Chairman of Alza.cz Tomáš Havryluk, adding: "Some orders were picked-up personally - either directly in our store branches (49 stores total) or at our AlzaBoxes (78 across all countries). 73% of customers take advantage of this feature. "

Last year, more customers bought through the Alza mobile app. In December alone, visits rose by more than 200%. The year-on-year turnover growth from our app grew by 122% for iOS operating systems, and 176% for Android systems. 

The sales team has expanded our product offering by adding thousands of new items. The most successful segment was mobile phones, where sales increased by 17.4%. More than 50% of the devices were sold directly from our individual branch stores. Six of our segments exceeded the turnover of almost €40 million: laptops, accessories, televisions, electronics and PC assemblies. The highest development was recorded by our sports, trends and hobby segments, which are continuing to grow even today.

The company has also been successful in B2B - even when it comes to sales to different companies, from small businesses to large international companies based in Czechia and Slovakia.  The year-on-year increase was about 29%, and most of these customers bought IT products (laptops, mobile phones, components, accessories, etc.). Companies can join the B2B program when meeting certain purchasing requirements. They receive a personal sales representative who caters to any needs, questions and purchasing suggestions. Following the success of the program in Czechia and Slovakia, Alza plans to open these services in Hungary as well.

The Customer Care department also deserves a mention. In 2017, they handled over 1.2 million customer requests: 600K calls and nearly 600K requests.

Last year, the company started exploring electric cars and bitcoins. As part of European expansion, the first Austrian store was opened, a showroom was added in Hungary, and the new warehouse P3 Prague D8 was added in Zdiby, Czechia. In Prague, a unique Smart Home exhibit and a free professional photo-video studio were added. Interactive IVR was added thanks to Bohdan Tůma, and the E-commerce B2C was launched at the University of Economics. More than 40 nonprofit organizations were also supported.

Alza.cz enters into 2018 with more than 1,500 employees and will continue to strengthen its position as being number one in the market. At the beginning of the year, the first Alza Concept Store launched with a major investment in developing the logistics and services related to delivery and as part of the European expansion project. Investing in further development of internal systems, which is the digital backbone of Alza, has also been strengthened. This is also associated with the massive recruitment, from IT professionals to novice programmers, and architects to top IT management. Based on the customer behavior data on the web and mobile app, the company sees a lot of room for personalizing web content and its offering. In 2018, there will be a lot of news and innovations (there have been over 200 tips received from the American CES trade convention), and Alza.cz will be looking into the following themes: AI, IoT, AR, VR, 3D...

About Alza.cz a.s.

Alza is a market leader and trendsetter, as evidenced by not only the record €644 million turnover in 2016 (excl. VAT), but also the number of innovations it has launched in the field of e-commerce. Alza delivers its products and has open stores on business days and weekends, though Alza's customers can also collect orders via a wide network of self-service AlzaBoxes. The company offers a unique Alza Premium club program, supports promising start-ups with its AlzaVenture investments, has opened the Alza TechZone for gaming and hi-tech enthusiasts, and is constantly expanding its product catalog. Alza has established unique Apple Shops in Prague and Bratislava. For its business accomplishments, Alza has won many prestigious awards in CEE, including the Most Trusted E-shop Brand. In the third edition of the Alza Awards, the company celebrated the best companies and products of the year. A detailed history of the company and its milestones can be found here.