Digitalization in Numbers: the Cost of (Not) Being Online
Business digitalization isn’t a buzzword. It’s the measurable difference between companies that grow and those that stagnate. In this article, we present concrete numbers from European and Croatian sources showing exactly how digital presence and tools affect revenue, conversions, and market survival.
Where Does Croatia Stand in Digital Transformation?
According to the European Commission’s Digital Decade 2024 report, Croatia has reached 56% basic digital intensity among enterprises, a 6.3% increase year-over-year, but still below the EU average of 57.7%.
Interestingly, Croatia leads in one segment: 51.7% of Croatian enterprises use data analytics, compared to an EU average of just 33.2%. Croatian businesses clearly recognize the value of data, but many lack the digital infrastructure to act on it.
The EU has set a target for 90% of SMEs to achieve at least a basic level of digital intensity by 2030. We’re currently at 56%. The room for improvement is enormous, and so is the opportunity for those who move before their competitors.
Online Shopping and E-Commerce in Croatia Are Growing Fast
According to Statista Market Forecast data, Croatia’s e-commerce market is growing at approximately 14% annually and is expected to exceed EUR 1.7 billion by 2029. User penetration is trending toward 43%.
An even more important number: 32% of Croatian SMEs already sell online, above the EU average of 20%. This means if you still don’t have an online store or at least a quality website, your competition probably already does.
Why a Website Is Critical for Business
Research consistently shows how web presence influences buying decisions:
- 76% of customers check a company’s website before visiting in person (Visual Objects)
- 75% of users judge a company’s credibility by its website design (Stanford Web Credibility Research)
- 31% of shoppers decided against buying from a small business because it lacked a website (Network Solutions)
- 92% of small business owners consider a website essential for brand authority, yet 27% still don’t have one (Top Design Firms)
The message is clear: a website isn’t an expense, it’s your first contact with a potential customer. And that first contact needs to be professional.
Page Load Speed: The Hidden Conversion Killer
According to Google’s data, 53% of mobile visitors will leave a site if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
In detail:
| Load Time | Bounce Rate |
|---|---|
| 1 second | 7% |
| 3 seconds | 11% |
| 5 seconds | 38% |
Each additional second of load time reduces conversion rates by 4.42% on average. Mobile pages load 70% slower than desktop, and most users today arrive on mobile.
This is why modern web development prioritizes performance from day one, uses optimized frameworks, and delivers minimal JavaScript to the client.
Cloud Services: Growth That Won’t Stop
According to Eurostat data for 2025, more than half of EU enterprises (52.7%) use paid cloud services, up 7.4 percentage points from 2023.
The most commonly used cloud services:
- Email: 82.7% of enterprises
- File storage: 68%
- Office software: 66.3%
- Security software: 61%
The EU target for 2030: 75% of enterprises should use cloud, AI, or big data analytics. Investing in cloud infrastructure today means you’ll be ready for tomorrow’s business demands.
Digitalised Businesses vs. Those That Aren’t: What the Numbers Say
These are the figures that should concern anyone still postponing digital transformation:
- Digitally advanced SMEs are 3 times more likely to report revenue growth than lagging peers (European Investment Bank, 2023)
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, digitalised businesses were 26% more profitable than non-digital ones (McKinsey)
- Businesses that adopted digital tools during the pandemic were 8 times more likely to report sales growth (OECD)
- 30% of European SMEs risk becoming irrelevant within 5 years if they don’t digitalise (European Investment Bank)
Croatia Is Investing: Seize the Opportunity
Croatia plans to invest a total of EUR 1.1 billion (1.5% of GDP) in digitalization. This includes digitalization vouchers worth up to EUR 10,000 per SME. Over 30,000 businesses have applied for this program by 2025.
This also includes approximately EUR 190 million for SME digitalization, EUR 63 million for cloud computing, and EUR 63 million for data analytics. The funding exists, and the question is who will use it.
What Can You Do Today?
Digitalization doesn’t have to mean an overnight revolution. Start with the basics:
- A professional website: your digital business card, available 24/7
- Online visibility: SEO optimization that brings clients to you
- Cloud tools: for collaboration, secure storage, and access from anywhere
- Analytics: track what visitors do and make data-driven decisions
Each of these steps is measurable, and results appear relatively quickly. Companies that started digitalising 2-3 years ago are now at a significant advantage, but it’s never too late to start.
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