Online retail growing in Poland

The Polish Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to improve the regulations pertaining to e-commerce in Poland, according to Puls Biznesu. Dariusz Bogdan, the Deputy Minister, explained that around 10% of Poles shop online, whereas e-customers in the EU account for 7% on average. The EU directive concerning common rules for the internal market has, therefore, to be implemented. The directive is intended to simplify the procedures and alleviate the formalities pertaining to services in all EU states.It will eventually be possible to arrange all of the formalities necessary to establish a business via the internet. The implementation of this project is expected to cost PLN 28m or €6.7m (financed by EU grants), and it is due to be completed in July 2011 in Poland.E-commerce representatives consider lack of trust to be the greatest obstacle to online trade. Only 12% of EU e-customers believe that shopping online is safe. Other barriers to e-commerce development include substantial commissions on electronic payments.is gaining in popularity in Poland because of the recession, according to Rzeczpospolita. Poles have started to buy products such as foodstuffs and holiday trips over the internet, which had not previously been associated with shopping of this kind.According to a recent report prepared by GfK Polonia, around 3% of Polish customers purchase household products online and 1.5% buy food via the internet. In total 10% of Polish customers shop online and around 16 million Poles have access to the internet.Eric McCloskey, of the Boston Consulting Group advisory firm, quoted in the newspaper, states that Poles have started to save money as the recession continues and tend, therefore, to shop via e-stores, where the prices are up to 20% lower than those of standard outlets.Alma, the prominent delicatessen chain, has been developing its online service mainly in large towns in Poland. In the first quarter of 2009 the turnover of its e-store increased by 400% year on year. Another delicatessen chain, Piotr i Pawel, has also been expanding its e-store’s operational area, to 40 towns in the vicinity of Warsaw.In addition, electronic appliance chains have been developing online sales. RTV Euro AGD has already launched an online store in Poland, and Media Markt is planning to start trial e-stores in Germany and Austria in 2009. If the project succeeds it will consider launching an online store in Poland.Poles spent PLN 11bn (€2.5bn) on online shopping in 2008, 36.4% more than last year, according to a report prepared by the Stowarzyszenie Marketingu Bezposredniego (Direct Marketing Association, SMB), quoted in Rzeczpospolita. E-commerce holds a 2% share of Polish retail market value, and its growth rate has outperformed other channels – by way of comparison, in 2008 sales of traditional stores increased by 13%. The auction portals account for the most substantial proportion of online retail sales. The turnover generated by internet auctions was PLN 6.5bn (€1.5bn).According to Slawomir Karpinski of Connect Distribution, an IT solutions provider, quoted in the newspaper, the sales of e-stores will continue to improve despite the crisis. Customers tend to shop online, as it is cheaper than shopping at traditional stores. E-commerce also has a strong influence on traditional stores, as clients very often compare the prices of products on the internet but shop at normal stores.In 2008 Poles spent PLN 4.5bn (€1bn) on shopping via the internet, according to Dariusz Bogdan, the deputy Minister of Economic Affairs. The average e-transaction was worth PLN 850 (€190.6).In addition, the proportion of customers of online banking services increased from 29% of internet users in 2007 to 35% in 2008. Online banking is most popular in large towns with over 100,000 residents, in which around 47% internet users stated that they use e-banks.In 2008 around 93% of companies and 48% of households had access to the internet.