The company has once again gone above and beyond by reaching 9.3 million EUR (8.1 million GBP) on its strongest day (17 December 2018) with 108,648 orders. On average, 388 orders were processed per minute on this record-breaking day — that’s 6.5 every second.
“Sales grew by 21% in the Czech Republic and by 15% in Slovakia. In Hungary, turnover almost reached 38.9 million EUR (34 million GBP) — a year-on-year increase of 129%. Over 51% of payments were made by card (at terminals and on-line) and more than 50% of orders were made using mobile devices, "said Tomáš Havryluk, deputy chairman of Alza.cz, adding “last year, sales came from an increasing range of segments, such as laptops, mobile phones, computer components, accessories, televisions, white goods (washing machines, dryers) and small domestic appliances (coffee makers).”
2018 was another year of innovation - three unique self-service Stores of the Future were created, delivery to Alza HomeBoxes was introduced and the distribution network expanded with 1,800 new points of sales. The offer has been expanded by special a trial service (Czech Republic and Slovakia), which gives customers the opportunity to try out selected products from the home appliance segment (dryers, washing machines and dishwashers) for 60 days completely free of charge. In November, AlzaPower launched its own product line offering 49 items (chargers, cables, batteries, powerbanks, speakers). We sold thousands of products, which all come in original, ecological and fully recyclable packaging made with soy ink printing. After the introduction of payment by BTC and LTC, the sale of cryptocurrency also commenced.
Alza also has a tremendous interest in financial services. For example, the unique Pay for a Third service (for product with subsequent payments being made over the following three months without an increase in the total price - available in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) has already attracted 11,000 customers. The average price of purchased goods by this method is 428 EUR (375 GBP). The biggest interest is for mobile phones, which make up 26% of sales. Extended warranty is also very popular and is being purchased alongside 60% of products over 39 EUR (34 GBP). The Alza NEO service rental service is currently being tested with corporate customers.
Alza.cz fulfils its responsibility not only for sustainable development, social ties and the environment in which it operates, but also supports many other activities. We are currently involved in teaching at the University of Economics in Prague and supporting a wide range of non-profit organisations.
In 2018, Alza helped 64 projects in a variety of different ways. These Czech projects include FOD, NF Seňorina, Plzen Deaf Association, Apropo Jičín, ADAM, Fokus, Children’s Psychological Hospital in Louny, Světluška, NF Zlatý oříšek, Nedoklubko, Život 90, Rozkoš bez Rizika, NF Moje velké přání, Tichý svět, V jedné vteřině, Tyflocentrum Olomouc, Azylový dům ROSA, Život za zdí, Centrum Amelie, Dobrého Pastýře, Cesta domů, Paracetrum Fenix, Locika and many others, not only in the Czech Republic but also in Slovakia (Elementary School in Lucenec for Autistic Children or FN in Banská Bystrica) and in Hungary (The Bérlők Project, which works against racial discrimination).
Alza.cz enters into 2019 with the same number of employees (1500) and will continue to strengthen its position as the market leader. Even this year, it is planning a massive investment in further European expansion and new delivery services. Investments in further development of internal systems will also be of major importance, with the massive recruitment of IT professionals, such as programmers, designers and IT management. Based on available data regarding web and mobile app customer behaviours, the company sees a great deal of room for personalising web content and offerings. So, you can be sure that 2019 will be full of further innovation and interest in the latest technology.
About Alza.cz a.s.
Alza is the leader in e-commerce and an indicator of market trends. This is shown not only by its record 2018 turnover of 972 million EUR (852 million GBP) - excluding VAT - but also by a number of innovations in the field of e-commerce (unique self-service Stores of the Future, delivery to Alza HomeBoxes, payment and sales of BTC and LTC in its own payment machines, the offer of electric cars online, introducing unique services - Buy for a Third and Trial Services (CR and SK), teaching at the University of Economics in Prague, designed the in house AlzaPower products, expansion to Hungary, Austria and others). Alza delivers orders even over the weekend when all its stores are also open. Customers can pick up their orders from a wide network of self-service AlzaBoxes. The company offers the Alza Premium loyalty programme (CR and SK). Alza has won a number of awards for its achievements in the Czech Republic, such as Most Trusted Brand among Electronics Dealers, Křišťálova Lupa (Crystal Magnifying Glass), MasterCard Dealer of the Year and many others. Alza behaves responsibly and last year supported 64 non-profit organisations. Alza’s most important milestones can be found here .
