Zásilkovna fast-tracks foreign expansion

The parcel delivery company Zásilkovna is growing even faster this year than its own ambitious plans. The company operated primarily as a distribution network for e-shops until earlier this year when it began allowing individuals to send parcels as well. In addition to its own pick-up points, Zásilkovna cooperates with small shops around the Czech Republic for greater customer convenience. The company expected to grow this network from 1,500 to 3,000 locations by the end of the year. Turnover rose 70 percent in 2018 to CZK 790m, but Zásilkovna expects to double this. Its logistics services division Packeta has already brought in CZK 425m this year, with the busy Christmas season still to come. The company hopes to finish 2019 with CZK 1.3bn in turnover. But in the long-term, says its founder Simona Kijonková, most of the company's turnover should come from abroad, as foreign expansion is getting underway this year to most of the EU as well as to Switzerland, Ukraine and Russia.