As the fast-growing Polish ecommerce market reaches a new maturity, InternetRetailing asked Darek Sokolowski, chairman of NoNoobs.pl, which is organising the CEE’s first dedicated ecommerce tradeshow, about the opportunities and challenges.
Internet Retailing: How big is the ecommerce market in Poland? How fast is it growing and what are projections for its growth?
Darek Sokolowski, chairman, Nonoobs.pl: PWC believes Poland to be the most promising market in the region with various analysts’ predictions corroborating this. Market value projections for 2014 range from €6-7bn with growth at about 16-17%, year-on-year. The online market in Poland is expected to reach €7-8bn in 2015.
IR: Who are the key retailers?
DS: Auction site, and regional giant, Allegro.pl, which is part of Naspers, accounts for half of the Polish market, while other major retailers operating online in the country include Merlin.pl, Empik.com, Agito.pl and Euro.com.pl.
IR: What is driving their growth?
DS: The Polish economy is also growing very fast in comparison to other European countries since it wasn’t hit by the recession. In the second quarter, for example, the economy grew by 3.2 per cent. Poland’s yearly projections were also raised. Other drivers in the market are the rising level of internet penetration, number of eshops and eshoppers.
IR: What key trends do you see in the market?
DS: Alongside expanding internationally, Polish retailers are also grappling with multichannel and mobile with many retailers looking for the right solution still. The second key trend we see is in logistics. Customers are looking for same-day delivery so lots of companies are trying to be the leader in this market.
IR: What are the challenges Polish retailers are facing?
DS: Polish retailers are mostly acting at the level of the domestic market but the time has now come for their expansion into other areas of Europe. This is one of the main challenges for growth currently in the Polish ecommerce industry. Our retailers are quite powerful and ready to grow in the global market but it’s very difficult.
The Ecommerce Trends CEE Show & Expo will be held in Warsaw, Poland on September 23-24. Medium and large retailers from across the CEE markets, including the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary and Russia, will come together with leading suppliers at the show, which is run by NoNoobs.pl
Image: © udra11 – Fotolia.com
