E-commerce in Croatia has been growing since the country joined the EU in 2013. The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated increased use of e-commerce, and an increasing share of customers shifted to e-commerce. Market data firm Statista estimates the value of the e-commerce market in Croatia at $1.3 billion with an expected growth rate of 10% through 2027. The market revenue of the Croatian e-commerce sector is expected to reach value of over $1.8 billion by 2029, with electronics and fashion remaining the leading segments.
As of 2023, over 70 percent of Croatia’s online population had purchased goods or services over the internet, with only six other CEE countries recording higher e-commerce penetration rates. However, this figure was still below the European Union average of 75 percent. 21% of buyers use credit cards to pay for their online orders. The most popular payment gateways are WSpay (38%), T-Com (32%), and CorVus (22%). PayPal and other similar services are used by about 20% of buyers. A growing trend is the use of smart phone payment applications issued by banks. More than 98% of young people in Croatia access the internet through smartphones, and mobile phones are expected to be the most common device used for online purchases. Native advertising, ads integrated with the content and style of the web page, are increasingly popular. An estimated 80% of Croatian companies advertise by e-mail, while 80% of online retailers use Facebook as their advertising channel. Facebook is the most popular social media platform, followed by Instagram and LinkedIn. Twitter is popular among politicians and journalists. Snapchat and YouTube also have a lot of active, younger users, and the TikTok is quickly gaining popularity.
According to Croatian e-commerce users, free shipping and the ability to choose the exact delivery location were the most important factors concerning package delivery as of 2024. Most online shoppers preferred their parcels delivered to their doorstep, and parcel lockers were the second most popular option. Over the past years, the number of parcel lockers has been steadily growing in the country. While in 2021, only 155 parcel lockers could be found in the country, mainly operated by the Croatian Post. By 2024, other providers strengthened their position on the market and the number of parcel lockers reached nearly 2,000.
About 40% of Croatian online retailers serve exclusively the Croatian market, while another 40% are open to global markets, mostly China and the EU. The EU Digital Single Market Strategy is providing Croats with full access to all goods and services offered online by businesses in the EU. The Strategy further regulates payments, customer rights and privacy policy.
According to Statista, the European beauty product e-tailer Notino was the leading online shop in the country in terms of net sales revenue in 2023, with figures reaching over $60 million. It was followed by the Croatian eKupi, a popular e-commerce website in the Balkan region, with a revenue exceeding $51 million. In the same year,
Pevex, the domestic home improvement article retailer, was the third most successful company in terms of e-commerce earnings, reaching nearly $47 million. Fashion items were the most widely purchased products online, bought frequently by approximately 40% of Croatian online shoppers. Electronics and beauty products followed in the ranking, holding a 13% and 10% share, respectively. Considering this trend, it comes as no surprise that in Croatia, online stores selling clothing items had the highest monthly sales in 2025, estimated at approximately $781 million. An estimated 40% of Croatian businesses are active in e-commerce, and retailers are increasing their use of new technologies and business models (such as voice-driven purchasing or requiring customer subscriptions to access certain products or services). According to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) report for 2024, 32% of Croatian SMEs sell online (above the EU average of 20%), with 12% of turnover coming from the online segment. Croatian media heavily promotes online shopping
eCommerce
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