An Analytical View of Online Consumers’ Behavior in the Visegrad Group Countries: Social Status Perspective

ABSTRACT

Online shopping has been growing in importance recently, also due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19. The paper’s main goal was to evaluate and compare the development of online shopping in the Visegrad Group countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary) in the years 2015 to 2020 and to point out significant differences based on the social status of consumers. The paper outlines the theoretical basis of online shopping, describes the current situation in the Visegrad Group countries and current trends in online shopping due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on data from the Eurostat database, the paper outlines the development of online shopping in monitored years and compares the results for individual countries. The results were compared on the basis of the social status of consumers (employed, unemployed, student, pensioner). In all countries in the period under review, there has been recorded an increase in online shopping, with the exception of Slovakia, which recorded a year-on-year decline in 2020. The largest increase compared to 2015 was found in the Czech Republic. A growing share of employed and unemployed online consumers, students and pensioners, was recorded with the highest share in all categories found in the Czech Republic. It could be assumed that online shopping will continue to grow in the future, not only due to the pandemic but also due to its undeniable advantages. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.