Hello webuserid
Internet shopping is more developed in Estonia than the other Baltic
States. The country overall has a positive attitude to the Internet,
starting with their president who started a program in 1997 for
setting up public net access points across the country.
Most of the ecommerce sites are in Estonian only (sometimes with a
Russian alternative or one or two pages in English). I only have a few
words of the language but have managed to dig out a fair amount of
information, following czh-ga's example!
Part of the surge forward in e-commerce is linked to the widespread
uptake for online banking, not credit cards as they are very new in
Estonia and there have been some problems with credit card fraud. Some
e-stores operate by asking for cash on delivery or bank transfers via
the popular Internet bank accounts and/or their associated debit
cards.
There is more on card payment and other general information lower down
the page. First the list of stores:
=================
GENERAL RETAILERS
=================
OTTO
Large choice of clothing and home furnishings, also has mail order
catalog with 100,000 different products.
http://www.otto.ee/
REEAL
Online store with very wide range of goods.
cosmetics, ornaments
music
videos
household goods
lawn machinery
computer hardware and software
photographic supplies
http://www.reaal.ee/
This is the only shopping site I found that shows the international
Visa and Mastercard logos as well as the local cards:
http://www.reaal.ee/Help/show?aadress=/html/makseviisid.html
COMMON
Internet side of a large furniture business importing, retailing and
wholesaling. Danish, Finnish and German furniture. Currently expanding
its chain of stores beyond Tallinn and Tartu.
Online store in Estonian only
http://www.common.ee/
They have some pages in English:
http://www.common.ee/eng/valik.html
MICROLINK COMPUTERS
Microlink are the biggest PC manufacturers in the Baltic area and they
also run the most popular portal in the region, Delfi.ee (see below)
http://www.arvutid.com/
ZEBRA
Linked with Zebra Information Systems
computers, printers, multimedia, digital cameras, games
http://www.zebra.ee/Shop
GUTENBERG
Extensive choice of books, videos, DVDs, CDs, calendars, maps
http://www.gutenberg.ee/
FLOWER SHOP
Flowers, fruit, gourmet gift baskets etc.
some pages in English
http://www.dunbar.ee/flower/index_en.php
ANTTILLA
clothes, cameras, electrical kitchen items like toasters and blenders,
hi-fi, playstations, tools
also mail order
http://www.anttila.ee/eripakkumised.phtml
JM GROUP
luggage, sports bags,briefcases etc.
http://www.jmgroup.ee/
ARIMAN
software and books, also sell computers offline
http://www.ariman.ee/
KRISOSTOMUS bookstore
http://www.kriso.ee/
RAAMMATUKOI bookstore
http://www.raamatukoi.ee/
ALLECTO bookstore
http://www.allecto.ee/
==============
FOOD RETAILERS
==============
INTERNETI SUPERMARKET
Groceries, drugstore, electric light bulbs, stationery
http://www.supermarket.ee/
ASTRI GRILL AS
Wide choice of groceries
http://www.astri.ee/
VEEBIPOOD
Full range of groceries including:
canned goods
dairy products
fish products
confectionery
alcohol, soft drinks
http://www.veebipood.ee/
TOIDU EXPRESS
Wide range of groceries
http://www.toiduexpress.ee/
PEETRI PIZZA
Online pizza,soft drinks and beer
http://www.order.ee.everyday.com/?1049124609
=======
PORTALS
=======
DELFI
Shopping mall section of popular portal site, claims more than 200,000
hits a day for site in general. Although that figure would include
Latvia and Lithuania too, more users would come from Estonia.
http://shop.delfi.ee/
ESTONIA-WIDE WEB
Directory of Online Stores
http://www.ee/www/Business/ONLINE/Stores,_Shops/welcome.html
ESTONIA-WIDE WEB
Directory of online computer stores
(not all sell online, some B2B only)
http://www.ee/www/Business/Computer_Companies/ONLINE_computer_companies/welcome.html
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
"members selling merchandise via Internet"
http://mail.koda.ee/ektk/koda_eng.asp?view=list&shiffer=5261
===================
FURTHER INFORMATION
===================
June 2002:
Percentage of total population who are Internet users
Year 2001 = 33%
Year 2002 = 39%
Male = 36%
Female = 41%
Most popular place of use
At Work
Online Shoppers
3% of total population
7% of Internet Users
http://www.tnsofres.com/ger2002/keycountry/estonia.cfm
"Estonia's affinity for the Internet has served the country's robust
computer sector well. Consider the rapid rise of MicroLink, the
leading PC manufacturer in the Baltics. Founded in 1995 by a pair of
college dropouts, MicroLink — @ www.microlink.ee — now boasts an
annual turnover of $70 million and 25% of the Baltic PC market. "I
don't know why so many people fear globalization," says the firm's
33-year-old CEO Allan Martinson. "I love it." MicroLink, Martinson
explains, has benefited hugely from Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish
firms that have outsourced component production orders to Estonia. And
40% of MicroLink itself is owned by U.S. and Finnish investment funds.
In addition to its manufacturing operation, MicroLink runs the most
popular portal in the Baltics, Delfi.com (www.delfi.ee). MicroLink
claims the site — offering news, debates and e-commerce — gets upwards
of 200,000 hits a day."
http://www.time.com/time/europe/specials/eeurope/field/estonia.html
Estonia's E-effort, by Meelis Kitsing
article with praise and criticism of Estonian internet development
http://www.ce-review.org/00/27/kitsing27.html
"One of the most significant breakthroughs for the development of
e-commerce in Estonia was the enactment of the Digital Signature Act
on March 8, 2000, which became effective on December 15, 2000. This
Act provides for the legal validity and enforceability of digital
signatures.
The number of online shops is growing quickly, as well – from 57 to
more than 100 in the last six months alone. These figures refer only
to those shops, which offer online payment links. The explosive
increase in the number of fully online shops has greatly been
facilitated by the fact that all major Estonian banks now offer online
payment links. "
http://www.american.edu/carmel/os2237a/ecommerce.htm
Estonia: Conditions For E-commerce Best Among Emerging Economies
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2001/05/09052001134557.asp
March 2002: 462,000 internet users
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/geographics/article/0,1323,5911_151151,00.html
2002:
"The number of broadband Internet users at the same time doubled to
40,000 from 20,000 at the beginning of the year."
http://www.epasaule.lv/article/articleview/811/1/61/
"High Internet penetration rates in Estonia are boosting the average
for Internet usage in the Baltic region as a whole, despite lower user
rates in Latvia and Lithuania. Government and privately sponsored
initiatives to promote Internet usage in Estonia have contributed to
the country's success in leading the region in terms of both Internet
penetration and eCommerce spending."
Estonia Maintains Solid Lead Over Latvia and Lithuania in Baltic
Internet Usage and eCommerce Markets - abstract of commercial report
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:w69URI2Ym5sC:www.idccentraleurope.com/promo/promo.php%3Freport%3D2+internet+penetration+OR+users+estonia&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
"Percentage of Internet and also Internet bank users is constantly
growing in each Baltic country. According to statistics, overall
Internet banking usage in Estonia is also high - 30%."
http://www.hansagroup.com/eng/aboutgroup_hanzanetsstory.html
Digital Divide Under Focus in Estonia: 03.10.2002
Long report should be available online but not working for me.
http://www.emor.ee/eng/arhiiv.html?id=946
Estonian Economy links
http://www.slavweb.com/eng/fsu/est-e0.html
======================
DEBIT AND CREDIT CARDS
======================
Usually there are just two card logos on Estonian shopping site. The
wavy ship belongs to the Hansa Bank (Hansapank) which issues Visa
cards, and the U-net logo is linked to Mastercard. However, debit card
payment is more common.
"Debit bank payment cards will be replaced by credit cards:
The Lithuanian banks have already issued 1 million of Visa cards, with
Lithuania being the first in the Baltics that is marking this
significant accomplishment. Latvia recorded 461,562 issued Visa cards
and Estonia - 511,793 in 2002.
Presently Visa cards are offered by Vilniaus Bankas, Hansa-LTB,
Agricultural Bank, Parex Bankas and local branch of Kredyt bank.
In 2002, turnover of Visa International cards in Lithuania increased
by 82 percent; experts forecast the growth of turnover by 60 percent
this year."
http://w.hansa.ee/eng/
U-net is linked to Mastercard
http://www.eyp.ee/index_eng.php3
"For businesses, especially foreign ones, a major obstacle to dealing
on-line with Estonians is high credit card fraud. Many e-commerce
consulting sites, such as Americart, have Estonia on their lists of
countries where the vast majority of credit card orders are
fraudulent.
Many Estonian retailers have an online presence, but they require cash
payments because of the absence of a suitable on-line payment system
and relatively low credit card penetration among Estonian population.
"
http://www.american.edu/carmel/os2237a/ecommerce.htm
search strategy
ecommerce "e commerce" online store, online shopping
internet usage, penetration, users, shoppers
Estonia
some searches using site:.ee
Also, "ostukorv", meaning shopping basket/cart, combined with food
words helped with finding the grocery retailers.
Plus an online Estonian-English dictionary to check some details.
http://www.ibs.ee/dict/ |
