Shoppers from the Czech Republic

A new trend is emerging along the German-Czech border: whereas until now it was primarily German residents from border areas who crossed into neighboring Czechia to shop, more and more Czech residents are now making the journey in the opposite direction to shop in Germany.

Shoppers from the Czech Republic: the main reasons for the increase

For Czech cross-border shoppers, trips to Germany are primarily about high-quality consumer goods. Electrical products, food and clothing are particularly popular, as Hartmut Kowalke of Dresden University of Technology said in an interview with ddp. “They come mainly because they expect to find quality here,” he said. An analysis of customer surveys shows that a favorable exchange rate and rising purchasing power in the Czech Republic are among the other reasons for the increase in shopping tourism from the country. Many Czech residents of border areas come to Germany to buy food at low prices in supermarkets. “In the long term, we can expect price levels to converge,” Kowalke added in the interview. The Czech Republic has been less affected by the global economic crisis because its economy is not as heavily dependent on exports. As a result, there has been no decline in consumer spending in the Czech Republic as there has in Germany, where the global economic crisis has also affected consumers.

Czechs are increasingly combining cross-border tourism with leisure activities, especially on weekends when they go shopping. “They usually visit towns near the border, but for higher-value goods they also head particularly to Dresden city center,” Kowalke said in the ddp interview. He also stressed: “Customers come not only from all over northern Czechia, but even from Prague to border regions in Germany to shop.”