Only seven percent of people in Slovakia have never used the Internet, compared to the EU, we shop more online
Last year only 7 percent of people in Slovakia stated in a statistical survey that they had never used the Internet. Slovak men and women visit the Internet as intensive as the average of the European Union. However, the priority will be decided.
We lead in online shoppingbeer we are lagging behind in internet banking. The same part of the Slovak population is active on social networks than in the Union, but communication with the public administration via the Internet is much less frequent.
88% of Slovaks use the Internet
Before the pandemic 12 percent of people in Slovakia have never used the Internet. According to Eurostat, last year’s 7 percent of people without internet experience is already comparable to the average for the European Union. It helped to close the digital gap between the Union and Slovakia forced use of electronic services during the pandemic.
The closing of shops, offices, schools and companies leads to fast online ordering of goods, but also catering, transport, service, and sometimes even health services. Streaming channels, online teaching and work meetings have become commonplace.
The share of people who do not have the required experience with the Internet decreased across Slovakia. In the Bratislava region up to 2 percent. In eastern Slovakia, there are still 10 percent of the population between the ages of 16 and 74 who have never used the Internet. they mostly do not have the necessary skills, so they are excluded from the digital economy. Ten percent is not a critical proportion, a third of European regions have the same or worse results. The meager progress in the last decade is striking.
More and more people go online every day. Whether for private or work purposes, at work or at home. Digitally the strongest Bratislava region with 90 percent of daily Internet visitors are in the same situation as the area of Prague, Berlin or Hamburg. With 80 percent, western, central and eastern Slovakia are comparable to Burgenland or Bavaria.
Online shopping is popular
Even before the pandemic, Slovaks and Slovaks were among them experienced purchasers of goods via the Internet. Online shopping was not only concentrated in urban areas. They directed to rural areas Internet shopping areas, than is customary in the territory of the union. It is conditional a smaller consumer market in terms of size and assortment, but also a worse coverage of remote villages with stores.
The user’s need to shop online is also related to poor transport connectivity of rural areas. Internet orders included food and drugstores in the same honey, clothing and over-the-counter medicines to a greater extent honey, e-books and services in less honey than the EU average. To a greater extent, Slovaks bought goods from Asia.
During the pandemic, Slovakia was an EU country with the biggest boom in online shopping. Last year, up to 77 percent of people said that they ordered goods or services over the Internet in the last 12 months. In the EU, it was 68 percent. There are only a few countries in the EU, including Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands, where a larger part of the population buys online than in Slovakia. The composition of online shopping carts in these rich countries differs from the Slovak one. Their residents pay more for beneficial services.
Internet banking and communication with the authorities are not widespread
The method of paying for goods and services is also different. While in Denmark and the Netherlands over 90 percent of people used internet bankingin Slovakia only approximately 50 percent. The lower share of people with internet banking in the Union has only Bulgaria and Romaniawhere many residents do not have a bank account.
With the extensive use of online shopping in Slovakia, it is probably not related to access to the Internet or not having a bank account. It can be decided by an individual that depends on trust. Until now, this was based on a personal approach to clients. The importance of e-services will grow along with the growing fees for transactions at the branch, i.e. the closing of bank branches or the expansion of the activities of virtual banks.
However, we lag behind in contacting public institutions via the Internet. People with low levels of education, the young, the unemployed or people born abroad have few online contacts with public administration.
Strong social networks
Smartphones and tablets gave the Internet, in addition to its information or shopping focus, a very popular communication function. As in the EU, it is also in Slovakia more than half of the population is active on social networks, on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok or Twitter. They are European leaders in this regard Denmark and Hungary.
The pandemic period has shown that people quickly run to technology in areas that can do it for them. The best offer was given by trade channels. The public and financial sectors lagged behind.