Polish e-commerce to reach PLN 92bn in 2022, more than 60% of which will be generated by e-stores
In 2022, online retail will be worth PLN 92bn in Poland. E-stores will account for 61% of this figure, with the remainder belonging to e-commerce platforms. This is according to the report “Online retail market in Poland 2022”, just published by the research company PMR. PMR also forecasts that the shares of these two sales channels will not change significantly as the market structure has stabilised. E-commerce in Poland will continue to grow, but at a slower pace than before. The market has entered a mature phase.
According to the report “Online retail market in Poland 2022”, published by the research company PMR, e-stores are the predominant channel in this market in Poland. According to the forecast presented in the report, 61% of the value of Polish online trade will be generated by e-stores in 2022, with a 39% share of e-commerce platforms. These proportions will remain virtually unchanged throughout the period covered by PMR’s forecast, i.e. until 2027.
Find comprehensive information about the current state of the Polish online retail market in the PMR report:
Online retail market in Poland.
E-commerce market analysis and development forecasts for 2023-2028.
Shares of online stores and e-commerce platforms in online retail in Poland
The steady shares of online stores and platforms that we have just observed mark the end of a certain trend, comments Karolina Szałas, Senior Retail Analyst at PMR and author of the report. Between 2017 and 2021, the platforms gradually increased their share in e-commerce at the expense of e-stores. This resulted from the emergence of new players in this channel: Empik, Morele, Amazon, Shopee and Erli, among others, entered the market at the time. It was also important that the platforms already in operation gradually expanded their offerings, most notably the market leader Allegro. Our analysis shows that this trend has slowed down: the shares of e-platforms and e-stores have stabilised in 2022 and are not bound to change significantly in the coming years. It can be said that the stage when the market structure solidified is over. The Polish e-commerce market has become mature, adds Karolina Szałas.
Prospects for online retail are still good in Poland
However, the stabilisation of the e-commerce market structure does not mean that its growth will slow down. PMR analysts forecast the value of e-commerce in Poland to grow from PLN 92bn to over PLN 141bn between 2022 and 2027.
According to PMR’s report, the factors driving the development of e-commerce will also change in the coming years. In recent years, a strong growth driver in this sales channel in Poland has been the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting migration of consumers to online shopping.
In the coming years, on the other hand, growth will be stimulated by, among other things, younger and younger buyers for whom online shopping will become increasingly natural. Another factor will be the improved offerings by e-stores and platforms. Companies trading online will, for instance, introduce free and ever quicker delivery, and also innovative services to improve the shopping experience.
Karolina Szałas says that an additional driver of growth in both channels of the e-commerce market in the years to come will also be the emergence of new players, so far absent there.
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Senior Retail Analyst