Galeria Centrum goes online
They came stylishly dressed in black, they saw the fashion display and they conquered the luncheon table.
The launch party for Galeria Centrum's web site this month was just another day in the department store's push to recreate itself as a leader of cutting-edge Polish fashion.
The quest has included the ongoing redesign of the ulica Marszalkowska store, the careful collection of international brands such as Esprit, River Island and Wallis, and a growth period since 1999, seven Galeria Centrum stores have sprung up across Poland.
And now the department store has launched its e-commerce site, GaleriaCentrum.com, as well as the country's first internet magazine for women, jaKobieta.pl. Packed with information on everything from relationships to beauty and cooking, jaKobieta also has direct shopping links back to you guessed it, GaleriaCentrum.com
It's a far cry from the dim days of communism. Back then, Galeria Centrum was known as Domy Towarowe Centrum the only department store in Poland. In 1968, when this huge government-owned department store opened for business in Warsaw, the crowds queued up outside, waiting for the doors to open so they could rush in and grab hard-to-find clothing items.
Now, with e-commerce and GaleriaCentrum.com, shoppers or "internauts" can cruise the aisles of this virtual department store from the comfort of their own living room.
"To give the right shopping experience, one possibility is to make a nice store like Galeria Centrum this year, but you also need to give the customer choice: to order by catalog or to go to the internet," said Serge Rach, president of Easy Net, the company that created the two web sites. Easy Net is a joint venture between Elektrim and Dutch company Eastbridge Group, which through its subsidiary EMPiK Centrum Investments bought a controlling stake in Domy Towarowe Centrum in early 1998.
"We're sure that Poland is ready for web sites like these, otherwise we wouldn't have launched," Rach said. "We're convinced that when we have a local brand that is very well known, with the possibility to buy international products from low prices up to very exclusive products, the chance to have a broader market with this is much bigger."
JaKobieta.pl Editor in chief Jaroslaw Grzelak said that his site will get at least 50 hits a day and a certain percentage of those hits will translate into sales at GaleriaCentrum.com.
Easy Net said it was expecting to attract up to 10 million potential customers a year by the end of 2004 through a host of Elektrim-owned e-commerce web sites and information portals.
"The Polish consumer today has the same needs as consumers in the West," Rach said. "They have the same right to excellent service and good ambience."
GaleriaCentrum.com will have more than 10,000 items for sale online fashion, accessories, luggage and household goods each with a picture and a detailed description.
JaKobieta.pl has also gone for the populist image with information on feng shui, an online clairvoyant, doctors, and even a virtual chef. Some of Poland's most famous faces are behind the computer screen: Designer Joanna Klimas is advising on style; TV host and author Malgorzata Domagalik is offering nuggets of wisdom on relationships; and Poland's own Jane Fonda, Mariola Bojarska-Ferenc, is writing on health and fitness.
Through jaKobieta.pl, internauts can also access other Eastbridge businesses on the net such as EMPiK, Smyk and Kodak Express.
But compared to old style "bricks and mortar" shopping, there are two stumbling blocks when it comes to e-commerce in Poland the lack of computer and internet penetration, and cultural reticence to using credit cards online. Regarding the first problem, Rach said computer terminals set up throughout the store would allow shoppers access to the net. He also said that Easy Net would have a cash-on-delivery option, while stressing that the company would use the latest security methods for online credit card purchases.
