PRESS RELEASE
Cash on delivery ceases to be the favourite method to pay for goods from e-shopsafter many years
Prague, 24 April 2017.Card payments are currently the most popular payment method when shopping online for almost one-third of all Czechs (30.6%). Only 29.8% of respondents prefer cash on delivery. Such are the findings of a GLS public opinion research that involved a representative sample of more than 1,000 respondents.When the same survey was made in 2016 COD was the most popular method with 34.3% of respondents. Just one in every four Czechs preferred card payments last year. The poll also shows great differences in the popularity of payment methods depending on age and gender.
Growing trust in Czech e-shops
Czechs are starting to trust e-shops. They will pay for the goods with cards as early as when placing theorder and are not afraid to submit their card numbers and passwords online.“COD waspopular for many years but has lost its position, even though it still may be the most frequent payment method with certain e-shops.Our survey shows, however, that a major change has occurred. Czechs are no longer distrustful of e-shops or the Internet environment as such,” says Pavel Včela, Division Manager, GLS Czech Republic, and adds: “Of course, your preference for COD depends on whether you are buying from a major and popular online retailer or from a small e-shop you have never heard of before. COD will still exist in the future as a safeguard for shopping at online retailers that the shopper knows little or nothing about.”
Credit transfer is the third most popular payment method in the Czech Republic, preferred by one-fourth of respondents (24.7%). One-tenth of Czechs prefer paying at pick-up points and as few as 4% prefer payments at the retailers’ brick-and-mortar stores.
Older people use COD whereas younger people pay with cards
The GLS research indicates that primarily young people pay using their cards when placing an order. This is the most popular payment method among respondents aged 18–26 (43%). When it comes to the 27–35 age group the percentage drops to 38.9%. The popularity decreases with higher age.Just 17.9% of people aged 54–65 perceive card payments upon placing an order as the best payment method.By contrast, COD is most popular with this age group with 37%of respondents whereas only 16.6% of respondents aged 18–26 prefer COD.
Card payments are more popular among men
Card payments when placingan order are more popular among men. The number of men who prefer them as the best payment method is one-fifth higher than the number of women with the same preference. When it comes to COD, the preferencesare equal.Just one in every ten respondents in Prague (11%) cites COD as the most popular payment method whereasalmost one-half of them prefer card payments upon placing an order. People with tertiary education have the same preferences. Almost one half of them see card payments upon ordering as the best method while just one out of ten prefers COD.
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GLS: quality of service in the Czech Republic and across Europe
GLS Czech Republic s.r.o. is a subsidiary of General Logistics Systems B.V. (headquartered in Amsterdam). GLS provides reliable, high-quality parcel services for over 220,000 customers in Europe, complemented by logistics and express services. “Quality leader in European parcel logistics” is GLS’ guiding principle, sustainability being one of the core values. Through wholly owned and partner companies, the Group provides network coverage of 41 European states and is globally connected via contractual agreements. 41 central transhipment points and more than 700 depots are at GLS’ disposal. With its ground based network GLS is one of the leading parcel service providers in Europe. 14,000 employees handle 431 million parcels per year. Every day around 20,000 vehicles are on route for GLS. In the financial year 2015/16 GLS achieved revenues of 2.2 billion euros.