Polish shoppers like specialized and multi-channel stores - report

Poles prefer shopping in specialists stores and are increasingly reluctant to buy at multi-branch stores, such as hypermarket and supermarket chains. They also buy more from retailers that integrate the virtual channel with their brick-and-mortar sites the best, according to a recent report prepared by consulting firm OC&C Strategy Consultants. The top three retailers in Poland were Allegro, Rossmann and IKEA. Electronics chain RTV Euro AGD climbed 19 places from 28th last year to 10th in this year’s ranking due to its convenient “click-and-collect” sales model. “It’s a myth that the consumers in some categories will move all of their purchases to the internet, and in other categories will move all of their purchases to the ‘round the corner shops.’ People already work simultaneously in both of these worlds, jumping from one to the other depending on their needs,” said Marek Zdziech, partner at OC&C. Online auction site Allegro came in first in four out of eight categories: low price, wide choice of products, how well suited products are to client’s needs and for the value for money it offers. Drug store Rossmann was selected as having the best quality of service and enjoying the highest level of trust among its customers. Drugstore Super-Pharm cam in first in the highest quality of products category, while grocery supermarket Alma Market won in the store look & feel category. Polish customers also increasingly value individualization of retail, even in chain stores and when buing standard products. For instance, jewelry store Pandora, which offers the possibility of creating products according to the customer’s individual taste,  managed to climb to the 13th position in this year’s ranking (from 26th place in 2013). Meanwhile its direct competitors Apart and Kruk dropped in the ranking (Apart fell to 5th place from last’s year’s top position and Kruk to 43rd from 29th). The firm polled 32,000 shoppers from nine countries: the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the US, India, Brazil, China, Turkey and Poland (where 2,032 respondents were polled).