According to the latest report by export.gov, the e-market in Poland was estimated at 11.1 billion dollars as for the end of 2017. It is forecasted to grow to up to 20 billion dollars by the end of 2020. Poles buy more and more with the use of special e-commerce platforms as they are easy to operate and give access to millions of products available not only on the territory of their country, but anywhere in the world.
The growth in e-commerce is caused due to easy access to cheap Internet through multiple tools, the presence of comfortable online purchasing platforms and customer-friendly regulations. Of course, we should not forget about the recent ban on trade on Sundays and official holidays, which also makes potential buyers search for goods and buy them directly from online shops. Such Polish online purchasing platforms as Allegro, Ceneo, or Media Expert just benefit from legislative changes of this kind. However, recently the popularity of a Chinese platform — AliExpress is growing and it is estimated that monthly number of Polish users of the website is over 4 million people.
Allegro — the most popular purchasing platform
As it was described in the abovementioned report, Allegro is said to be the most popular online purchasing platform in the country, possessing over 50% market share. Initially, it was established as a typical auction platform where users of any kind (mostly individuals) were able to get rid of unwanted pieces of clothing or products. However, over the last few years Allegro has been transformed into a website hosting a variety of sellers who offer all types of consumer goods and services. It is said that currently 90% of offers available at Allegro comes from companies who advertise their goods directly through the site.
Ceneo and other price comparing websites
Ceneo is the second biggest e-commerce marketplace in Poland. Its operation is based on a price comparison service. It allows to compare offers for various products from 18,000 online shops in the whole country. This feature allows its users to select and compare prices of even 20 million products. What is more, the website gives its users the opportunity to do their shopping by using a virtual cart, which is understood as a kind of Buy Now option.
In addition to that, before doing the shopping, visitors are able to learn about the products, their quality and the quality of service offered by a seller and a delivery company just before they decide to make a purchase. And in order to provide honest opinions, the platform decided to run the Trusted Opinions Ranking that indicates the shops with the highest users’ trust rates.
Among the 10 best e-commerce platforms there is one more price comparison site, Skapiec.pl. The scope of its operation is basically the same: it offers the access to offers from a number of online shops and 11 million products. It allows for fast and effortless search for goods.
International players
Among the multinational online purchase platforms that are available in Poland one can find the biggest of them. There is Amazon who has a large presence in the country with its five fulfilment centres and the Research & Development centre as well. As far as its online trade is concerned, its German platform is available also in Polish language version.
When mentioning international companies present in Poland, we shall not forget about Facebook and its newest feature of Marketplace. Its Polish counterpart was launched in November 2017 and has been gaining popularity since then. However, it has not been listed among 10 biggest online purchasing platforms yet.
Finally, AliExpress — an online retail service originating from China and being a part of the Alibaba Group. A user can find on this site any type of consumer goods and have them delivered to any place in the world. The platform facilitates small businesses and lets them sell to customers all over the world. It is also said to offer any type of goods available, sometimes at very attractive prices. No wonder that this website has become the eight most popular purchase platform in Poland and shopping amounts can be transformed into points within the Payback affiliate program.
However, it must be noted that due to the changes in the tax regulations and the establishment of a special group of customs offices to supervise packages coming from China, the popularity of AliExpress may decrease. The officers are supposed to check if VAT rates and duty fees that are necessary to pay in case of receiving goods from the outside of the European Union are settled. Probably near future will show if and how officers move will affects amount of purchasing from AliExpress.
In Poland, there are approximately 27.8 million of Internet users. With a wide access to mobile tools, fast and easy shopping with online purchasing platforms is very convenient. Therefore, it is expected that the number of customers buying online will grow in the next years. Maybe it is worth to take Polish market into consideration while planning your future sales strategy.
