ICT in the retail in the Czech Republic

Besides agricultural primary production, the food industry and all other branches of the economy /services/ it is the information and communication technology used in retail that is one of the factors that markedly influence food retail. Therefore it is necessary to analyse the effect of electronic transactions that are used by food retail to attract and acquire other target groups of the consumers purchasing food. Though globally the retail companies (for ex. in Great Britain) invest in this technology heavily in order to increase their competitiveness on the market the food e-business in the Czech Republic has been more or less stagnating, though the recent years have been showing slight increase of interest in this form of shopping. This article identifies both the positive and the negative reasons of this situation. The technological level of computer network and its high accessibility proven by the fact that the vast majority of consumers can use internet for purchasing any kind of goods incl. food can be considered the positive reason. On the other hand the poor offer of food presented on the internet by retailers who - for fear of low demand for other kinds of food - focus mainly on beverages and dry food can be considered one of the negatives. The weakest point here is the timely delivery of goods in unchanged quality. Despite these facts the purchasing of food via internet can still serve well for busy or handicapped customers with limited mobility.

Keywords: consumer, retail trade, marketing, information, communications technology, food

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Příspěvek byl zpracován v rámci VZ MSM 6046070906 "Ekonomika zdrojů českého zemědělství a jejich efektivní využívání v rámci multifunkčních zemědělskopotravinářských systémů", Provozně ekonomické fakulty České zemědělské univerzity v Praze.