The IDC Adriatics, which will in 2005 compile a complete report on 2004, describes the business 2004 as a calmer without explosive expansion.
According to figures on activities in 2003, only USD 15.4 million accounted for the segment Business to Consumer (namely B2C) with a rise of 213.6 percent in comparison to 2002. However, a rise of 185 percent to USD 126.30 million was registered in the Business to Business segment (B2B) in 2003.
One of the main reasons for such a rise in 2003 was the enhanced on-line purchase by Croatian clients, which was also a result of the introduction and use of recognisable systems for on-line authorisation of credit cards such as HTnet Pay Way, Ourboros, Meg etc. This also alleviated a lack of confidence by the domestic population in this form of the purchase.
Besides, foreigners were still the main generators of the B2C turnover, through on-line travel agencies arrangements. In the B2C segment in Croatia, travel agencies accounted for 66.6 percent of the trade, and they were followed by on-line computer equipment stores (23.3 percent).
For instance, the Croatian tourist on-line agency called "adriatica.net", with 80 percent of its business carried out by the Internet, brought 42,000 tourists, most of whom were foreigners, to Croatian resorts. The agency reported a rise of 25 percent in its B2C dealings this year as against last year.
According to the IDC Adriatics figures, the ecommerce in Croatia still made up merely two percent in the entire turnover in the national commerce which had the turnover of 11 billion in 2003.
For example, Hungary registered the turnover of 1.045 billion, Austria 10.424 billion, the Czech Republic 838 million, Poland 2.054 billion US dollars in ecommerce in 2003.