Croatia’s Largest Retail Chain Now Accepts Bitcoin Payments Online

• Croatia’s largest food retailer has enabled bitcoin payments in its online shop.
• Konzum said it plans on deploying the payment option in its physical stores soon.
• “We are proud to be leaders in another area that is rapidly developing and dictating the future,” Konzum board member Uroš Kalinić said.

Croatia’s largest food retailer has enabled bitcoin as a payment option in its online shop, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Konzum has become the first local retail chain to offer customers the choice, allowing them to purchase everyday consumer items with bitcoin.

“Cryptocurrency owners can buy and pay for groceries, hygiene, and household items and other products from the rich offer of our online store with more than 12,000 products,” Kozum said, according to a translated version of the statement.

Reuters reported that Konzum is part of the Balkan region’s biggest food producer and retailer, Fortenova Grupa. The report also noted that Konzum’s shops are popular among tourists visiting Croatia, who will now be able to purchase products online with cryptocurrency. The company said it plans to enable the new payment option in its physical stores soon.

“As the largest retail chain in Croatia, which in its almost 65-year history is a continuous leader in the domestic market in terms of business results and technological achievements, we are proud to be leaders in another area that is rapidly developing and dictating the future,” Konzum board member Uroš Kalinić said.

Konzum implemented the new payment avenue through a partnership with local fintech Electrocoin and their PayCek system, a bitcoin payment processor. The system provides a QR code for the customer to scan and pay using their bitcoin wallet of choice while fixing an exchange rate as the purchase begins to protect the consumer from volatility.

“We continue to invest in the development of innovations and technologies in order to remain the first choice for our customers and as a next-generation retail chain to provide a premium shopping experience,” Kalinić added.