eMag’s Hungarian website only shows a contest the retailer started to persuade users to provide their e-mail and personal info for a database the company will use to send promotional messages.
An entry on eMag Hungary’s blog says the online store will open soon.
eMag officials did not provide any comment on the matter at hand.
Besides opening emag.hu website, the retailer also started a recruitment campaign to find people to manage its Hungarian business, such as product manager and marketing specialist.
Hungary is the second foreign market for eMag, which expanded to Bulgaria last August. Radu Apostolescu, one of the founders of the online store who now works as vice-president and development director, had told ZF in interview as early as in 2010 about the retailer’s plans.
“There are no stores the eMag size in Bulgaria and Hungary. Only in Poland and Czech Republic where the market is bigger and more specialized.”
According to market research company GfK, the durable goods (electronics, home appliances, computer products) market in Hungary amounted to about EUR1.3 billion last year, only some EUR100 million less than in Romania.
The Hungarian market continued to grow in the second quarter of 2013 and will most likely continue to grow by the end of the year, Ciprian Hatneanu, sub-regional manager Eastern Europe of GfK told ZF.
“Durable goods market is on the rise in Hungary. Sales in the second quarter of 2013 went up by 14% on the year-ago period. Growth largely comes from the shift from analog to digital TV and from the good performance of tablets, notebooks and smartphones.”
Unlike Romania, Hungary’s large home appliances segment (washing machines, refrigerators and dryers) increased and will probably continue to increase by yearend, he added.
eMag posted EUR165 million sales last year, up 14% year-on-year. The figure includes the sales of other companies made through eMag’s Marketplace, not just the 5% fee the retailer charges such sellers. Marketplace generates about 10% of eMag’s revenue, which stood at EUR153.8 million in 2012, up 4.9% on 2011.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)