E-commerce on the rise in Poland

Polish consumers are increasingly using e-shops to purchase products, but Polish e-companies are underperforming, according to a report in the Polish press on Monday. The report stated that 35 percent of Poles shop online, with products from German and British online shops being the most popular. “Customers are increasingly using foreign companies’ e-commerce in search of good pricing and products not available locally. Fast delivery of goods from abroad is increasingly common and is no longer a serious obstacle to placing an order,” read the statement in Eurosender, a platform for ordering courier services in the European Union. However, Eurosender’s statement indicated, that in terms of attracting customers from abroad, Polish e-shops were not performing as well, relative to international competition – only five percent of Polish e-shops had sold to foreign customers in 2016. “Polish e-commerce is concerned not only with foreign competition, but also the high costs associated with logistics that support foreign orders. This is especially true for smaller entities which, due to the variable amount of the goods shipped, do not want to tie up contracts with logistic operators,” said Tim Potočnik, Eurosender’s CEO. Only 44 percent of domestic online shops in Poland sell to customers abroad.