Czech Republic

Eyewear retailer Lentiamo has expanded to a new market in Europe. The eyecare specialist has opened its online shop in the Netherlands, making this the 16th country where Lentiamo is present. Foreign markets currently account for 85 percent of the company's revenues.

Most growth of a European country's ecommerce market can be expected in the Czech Republic, where it's predicted the online retail industry will grow 16 percent between now and 2021. That's more than in other European markets.

Ecommerce in the Czech Republic was worth 135 billion Czech koruny (or 5.25 billion euros) in 2018. That's twice as much as in 2014. Last year, 90 percent of Czech consumers shopped online at least once.

Lentiamo, the largest online contact lens retailer in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy, wants to become the European market leader for eye care. The online store generated a turnover of 27.3 million euros in 2018 and wants to grow further, among other things with their own solution Solunate and by selling their own line of contact lenses.

Zalando is finally expanding again. The German fashion company will open online stores in Ireland and the Czech Republic this summer. These are the first two countries Zalando will enter since 2013. Both Ireland and the Czech Republic will be served by the company's existing logistics sites.

Online retailers from the Czech Republic are increasingly looking abroad to expand their business and increase their revenues. The local ecommerce industry is growing fast and already accounts for over 10 percent of all retail sales. Many ecommerce players are now looking at opportunities in countries such as Hungary and former Yugoslavia.

Packhelp, a Polish startup that manufactures custom packaging, has launched localized versions of its ecommerce website in France, Italy, Spain and Czech Republic. The company already sells to thirty countries across Europe, but is planning to launch more localized versions for these markets.

Maternia, the biggest contact lens retailer in the Czech Republic, has expanded its online reach in Europe. The company opened its online store in Belgium, which is now the 15th country in Europe where Maternia is active.

Online fashion store Zoot.cz has won the APEK E-commerce Award for the most innovative and original online store in the Czech Republic in the past year. The awards was handed out to the online retailer during the E-Business Forum, a conference organized by Czech ecommerce association APEK.

Ecommerce analytics company MonkeyData has successfully secured its second round of seed funding and is now valuated at 8 million euros. The Czech company wants to use the investment for product development and a continuation in the company's global expansion. The next funding round (Series A) will be open to global investors.

Ecommerce companies can really make a difference nowadays if they use their data efficiently. But there's data everywhere and it takes some time and effort to analyze all this. A European startup that tries to solve this problem, is MonkeyData. This Czech SaaS company analyses data from various sources and shows the results in one place in an organized dashboard. We interviewed them about data, ecommerce software and the differences between some European countries.

Bata, a global operating footwear manufacturer and retailer from the Czech Republic, has decided to shut down all its stores in Switzerland where it's headquartered. With customers buying footwear and accessories more and more through multi-brand retailers and ecommerce websites, Bata has been trying to restructure its operations for years. Now it came to the conclusion maintaining the Bata stores in Switzerland wasn't an option anymore.

The 3SI Group, formerly known as 3 Suisses International, has decided to pull the plug on all of its retail activities in France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. It has changed its business strategy drastically and will now focus solely on service activities.

Lesara, a Berlin-based online fashion and lifestyle retailer, has announced it will now also supply customers in the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, The Republic of Ireland, Romania, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

Amazon has opened a distribution center in Dobroviz, near Prague. The new logistics facility started full operation yesterday, with the Czech minister of Industry and Trade attending the opening. The site already has 1,500 permanent employees.