14 March 2022 - Maybe you’re looking for something that’s not available locally, or perhaps the pandemic has changed the way you shop. Regardless, online stores have made purchasing more accessible, faster and at times, even more affordable compared to their brick and mortar counterparts. But how is online shopping in Croatia? Read on to find out more.

Let me rip the proverbial band-aid off first. Unfortunately American online shopping giant, Amazon, does not currently have a presence in Croatia (yet?). Whether this is advantageous or not, is highly debatable. 

While you can still order from Amazon’s main site, the costs to ship everything across the Atlantic are eye-watering! You’ll also have to factor in import taxes that will be calculated by the local delivery company (e.g. Hrvatska Pošta, DHL, GLS), increasing prices even further.

Here's an example of how shipping costs more than the item itself. Image: Amazon.com

But not to worry, this doesn’t mean you are out of options when it comes to ordering from Amazon. Their online stores are available in neighboring European countries such as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, albeit with caveats. 

The most obvious disparities are that Amazon inventories in Europe are not as immense as the US site, and by nature of where they’re based, different types and brands of products are stocked. Another caveat is that not all items from these sites can be shipped to Croatia. 

Here’s an example of an item that does not ship to Croatia. Image: Amazon.de

Still, this is a better alternative to the US-based site since shipping costs are significantly lower at €9.99 per order, for delivery within a week. Special services such as fast shipping (2-3 day deliveries) exist at a premium, whereas for the same order, my shipping quote went up to €27.

So, other than Amazon, what are your online shopping options in Croatia? 

The answer is a number of smaller, more specialized online domestic and EU retailers who currently fill the gap in the market. Let me introduce you to some of my favorites. I am not affiliated with any of these sites but have used them in the past and am quite pleased with their services. 

Fashion 

While larger fashion chains such as Mango, Pull & Bear, Zara, and many more, have physical stores in Croatia, when it comes to fast fashion, I’ve personally found that ASOS has a wider selection, with quick and reliable shipping (around 3 days).

Similar to ASOS, Zalando has only recently extended its network to Croatia since July 2021. Already, this has proven to be another reliable source for all your wardrobe needs and as a plus, they offer free 30-day returns on all orders.

Between the two sites, you'll meet all your fashion needs. Image: Pexels.

Eyewear/Contact lenses

For those who require contact lenses or new prescription glasses during your time in Croatia, then bookmark adrialece.hr. 

They stock a huge range of contact lenses, frames, and optical accessories (e.g. contact lens fluid, cases etc.), including multifocal and astigmatism prescriptions at very competitive prices.

 Glasses and sunglasses are the top 10 items travelers tend to leave behind on the plane. Image: Pexels.

Shipping is free if you place an order above a certain amount, and I’ve never waited more than 5 days for my order to arrive by registered mail. Their customer service representatives are also highly responsive if there are any issues with your order or delivery.

Healthcare

For all my healthcare and supplement products, there are two online stores that I frequent every couple of months. 

Vitamins and over-the-counter medications are usually ordered from this online pharmacy. For sports supplements such as protein powder, bars, or sports aids, myprotein is my go-to. Both have competitive prices, short delivery times, and a great selection for all your healthcare needs.

Skincare & cosmetics

Last Christmas, having left Christmas shopping to the last minute, I caved and ordered from Douglas, a leading German cosmetics and lifestyle brand that has been around in the early 19th century. 

Image: Pexels.

While payment was slightly more complicated (the site did not take credit cards so I had to do a bank transfer), once the order was processed, I received my items via registered mail in 3 days. For health and beauty, I still recommend the Chewwies web site, and for healthier hair, glowing skin and stronger nails, there is this product. You can even grab a free sample pack. 

Produce

A few grocery stores here such as Ribola and Konzum provide home deliveries via their websites but for more hard-to-find ingredients, I often order from this store. 

While their main focus is on organic dry ingredients such as cereals and grains, the store also carries a variety of international spices and ingredients such as tofu, vegan meat, and curries. Delivery times are a standard 3-5 days and signing up for their membership guarantees lower prices and access to member-only deals.

Check out your local virtual market. Image: Virtualni pazar Split/Facebook.

For a truly local approach to online produce shopping, try joining Facebook groups such as this one. I’ve bought the best homemade cheeses, honey, vegetables, eggs, and more directly from farmers or producers on such sites.

Prices are more than reasonable (think €7 for a kilo of fresh cow’s cheese), although my downfall is having to occasionally converse in broken Croatian when the delivery goes awry!

Furniture/Household items

Finally, while apartments here tend to come furnished (lookout for another article that I’ll be doing on long-term rentals in Split!), you may need small household items such as towels and sheets to make it feel more like home.

IKEA currently only has a physical store in Zagreb, but if you live in other areas of Croatia, you can order online and have it delivered to a pick-up location (free) or to your home (for a fee of about €10). Another Scandinavian alternative to IKEA is the Danish brand, JYSK which has more stores dotted around Croatia and offers free deliveries that take about 5-10 days.

Buying online means you get to bypass getting lost in the maze of products at IKEA. Image: Pexels.

Local alternatives to these are stores such as mall.hr or Emmezeta, which also carry larger household appliances such as washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and stoves for those intending to stay longer term.

So if you’re a visitor, digital nomad, or long-term resident of Croatia, I hope you’ll find this list helpful in your online shopping needs!

ZAGREB, 16 Sept 2021 - The Croatian government on Thursday gave consent to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Croatia and the Amazon Web Services (AWS).

As the lead cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides servers, storage, networking, remote computing, email, mobile development, and security.

Bernard Gršić, the state secretary of the Central State Office for Digital Society Development, told the government that the AWS offered more than 200 full services.

AWS has expressed its wish to cooperate with the Croatian government in the field of digital transformation and also to ink the memorandum of understanding, a document which it has already signed with other EU member-states, Gršić said.

The purpose of the memorandum is to establish strategic cooperation in the digital transformation of the public administration, digitization, digital literacy, and innovations.

Recently, Amazon has formally announced the opening of an office with 15 specialists in cloud infrastructure maintenance and management in Croatia.

Last October, Amazon and the Croatian Post (HP) signed an agreement on the delivery of parcels and logistics support in Croatia.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

September the 3rd, 2021 - Croatian Amazon offices are being opened and employment is promised to those with experience in the field as the company expands its cloud services in Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, although this company is best known in Croatia as an Internet retailer, and the largest in the world, in the IT industry it is much better known for its cloud services.

More or less all digital services today, from Netflix, Spotify, Gmail and Outlook to the e-Citizens (e-Gradjani) platform, are located in the cloud, ie on particularly strong computers, so-called servers, located in special buildings - data centres, which are accessed via the Internet. Amazon is the first company in the world to offer cloud services, not directly to end users, but to companies like Netflix, whose entire service runs thanks to Amazon’s cloud.

Two years ago, Amazon, through its subsidiary A100 Row Inc. opened the company Amazon Data Services Zagreb d.o.o. in Croatia. Last year, the company generated its very first 1.75 million kuna in turnover, mostly internally.

It ended the year with 117,708 kuna net profit, Jutarnji list writes, but the company didn't have a single employee. At the same time, in October, Amazon expanded its business in Croatia through online shopping. It assigned the work of local and regional distribution of its packages to Croatian Post (Hrvatska posta) and thus covered that part of the business. Now the technology giant, which is right up there with the likes of Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, has decided to strengthen its cloud business in Croatia with Croatian Amazon offices being opened.

First, in February, it leased servers for ''caching'', ie connected Zagreb directly to its cloud infrastructure, it then stated that it could offer its clients and customers, like Netflix, 14 percent faster data transfer to users. In the second step, they're now developing a team that would deal with the design and implementation of large cloud projects on a global level in Zagreb.

That's why, among the 15 advertised positions in Zagreb, Amazon isn't looking for developers or e-commerce specialists, but a whole range of experts who would deal with the design and maintenance of their cloud infrastructure. The list includes technicians, electricians and other experts for the design and maintenance of the infrastructure on which today's Internet rests. The conditions set by Amazon are a university degree and seven years of experience in the industry.

Amazon was unavailable for comment on its Croatian Amazon plans according to a report from Jutarnji list. The owners and directors of data centres across Croatia have also distanced themselves from making any comments, but it is known that Microsoft and Google have their own ''caching'' servers located here in Croatia.

For more, make sure to follow our dedicated business section.

ZAGREB, 9 July 2021 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković held several bilateral meetings in Sofia on Friday, on the fringes of a Three Seas Initiative summit.

Plenković tweeted that he held talks with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on economic cooperation and cooperation within the Initiative, migration, the fight against COVID-19, and the two countries' ambition to join the Schengen and euro areas.

Plenković also held talks with Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, who supported Croatia's Schengen bid.

"We appreciate Estonia's support in Croatia's ambition to become a member of the Schengen and euro areas," he tweeted.

Plenković and Kaljulaid also talked about economic cooperation, notably in energy and digitalisation, EU efforts in fighting COVID-19, and climate challenges.

He also met with representatives of the Amazon Web Service, tweeting that they talked about digitalisation in Croatia, plans for the company to open a regional centre in Zagreb, and cooperation in digital transformation, which he said would also create jobs.

For more on politics, CLICK HERE.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak on the 25th of July, 2019, the world's largest online store, Amazon could, according to what is currently unofficial information, soon be fully available on Croatian territory, as soon as autumn.

According to unofficial information, Amazon is planning to make some form of exclusive co-operation for delivery and logistical support in Croatia, potentially on the entire regional market, which could cover Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro and Serbia.

Although it's still unofficial information, apparently an expert team from Amazon has been staying in Croatia over recent days, and besides negotiating business details, they have visited the new Croatian Post centre in Velika Gorica, which should meet their high criteria for sorting and shipping shipment.

Although Amazon was asked for a comment, Poslovni Dnevnik didn't manage to get a response. From Croatian Post however, a response was garnered, and an indeterminate response was received that neither confirms nor negates any negotiations with Amazon, which could mean that something is ''cooking'' between the two.

"At this point, we can't confirm the information you're talking about. We have inquiries from major world co-operation companies, regarding assuming the role of a regional leader in our business. It's likely that our colleagues from the region and potentially interested parties will visit our new sorting centre in the coming months, as it's truly unique in this part of Europe, but also in the countries that gravitate towards us. This profession is always interested in such investments,'' they stated from Croatian Post.

They added that HP is in the phase of moving its key capabilities to a new sorting centre. In addition to the automatic sorting systems we acquired two years ago, a new package sorting system will soon be launched at the new location, which will have the capacity to sort 15,000 packages per hour.

In addition, we have equipped space and a high-security warehouse. The aim is to do the job we now have in an even faster and better way, but of course we're also open to the possibility for even better cooperation with potential partners.

''The plan is to move everything to the new location by September, so that in September the media can expect us to organise a detailed location tour,'' Croatian Post said. The arrival of Amazon in Croatia and the region would have unimaginable benefits, we'd gain a strong global partner and strength our competitiveness on the market, that will also be great for residents, who, despite the European Union's directives on the matter, generally struggle to use Amazon, as most of the items for sale on there still don't deliver to Croatia.

In 2017, Croatian Post issued a strategic decision to build a new logistics centre in Velika Gorica near Zagreb worth 350 million kuna. This is a capital investment, without which, Croatia would probably be very uninteresting to a giant like Amazon.

In the first phase, 32,000 square metres of brand new business space will be built, with warehouses, boiler rooms and a data centre. After the completion of the second phase of construction, the sorting centre will be on an area of ​​38,200 square metres on a plot of 70,200 square metres.

The logistics centre will be at a strategic location close to Zagreb's Franjo Tuđman International Airport, as well as the network of freeways that allow shipments to be shipped faster.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more.