{"id":475,"date":"2021-03-23T09:03:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T09:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aqipa.klixpert.io\/?p=475"},"modified":"2022-12-05T15:01:07","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T15:01:07","slug":"country-focus-poland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/www.aqipa.com\/en-gb\/insights\/country-focus-poland\/","title":{"rendered":"Country Focus: Poland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than open fields<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With this mini-series about the markets Aqipa operates, we want to help new brands assess the attractiveness of certain locales and inspire retailers to learn from their peers in other countries. After Australia<\/a> and Belgium<\/a>, we are taking a look at a country that has gone through a formidable economic transformation and is now a European hotbed for digital development talents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Economy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before diving into the economy, let’s start off with some interesting trivia on Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n

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  1. Poland is larger than Italy or the UK and has about 38 million inhabitants. Interestingly, the size of the population has been shrinking since the late 90s, when it peaked at 38.5 million people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Poland’s history is very complicated. The country has been invaded or has fought for freedom in insurrections over 40 times. Poland even disappeared from world maps between 1795 and 1918. Nevertheless Poland was the second country worldwide to spur a written constitution, which came into effect in 1791.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. While Poland derives from ‘Polanie’, which means ‘the people living in open fields’, one must note that Polish landscape has more to offer than flat fields. From their version of the lake district to off-shoots of the Carpathian mountain range to Tatra National Park. For those that want to visit, check out the 10 most beautiful places in Poland<\/a>. (courtesy of theculturetrip.com).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n
    \"Poland<\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    Which country showed the highest, constant growth rates over the last 10 years in Europe? That’s right: Poland!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The country was the fastest growing in the EU between 2010 \u2013 2019 in terms of purchasing power increase and has now reached about 73% of the European average GDP per capita. To illustrate this in more detail, the Warsaw region has 180-190% of GDP per capita, while Worclaw (Breslau), Pozn\u00e1n (Posen) and Krak\u00f3w (Krakau) hover at an impressive 150% compared to average digits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Polish market is in a transition from entry level\/high end to mid-range products due to the growing economy. In the first five months of 2019, Poland surpassed the UK to become the sixth-biggest economic partner of Germany in the world, the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) said in a report. In 2018, Poland’s exports to Germany made up 28.2% of all Polish exports, while imports stood at 22.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Almost 16 years ago, Poland joined the EU and at the time was one of the least affluent countries in the bloc: GDP per capita was $16,000 in purchasing power parity, the second-lowest after Latvia. Unemployment was 19%. The average monthly salary was less than 2,300 zlotys (\u20ac510). Over the last decade and a half, the country has grown around 4% a year on average, more than three times the EU average of 1.2%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Economist<\/em> noted recently that four main external forces stand behind Poland’s remarkable successes: access to subsidies from the EU, the flow of remittances from expats working in the EU, a strong economic environment in the bloc as well as a low-level starting point. The PIE<\/em> said that Poland has already received or will soon receive EU funding<\/a> of \u20ac164 billion, which corresponds to nearly twice the country’s annual budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    According to two scenarios by McKinsey<\/a>, the county could either grow at an annualized rate of 3% and reach a GDP per capita of EUR 18.500 in 2030 or, in a more optimistic outlook, even growth rates of 5% per annum seem realistic, which would bring Poland into the European mainstream and double Poland’s GDP to EUR 890 billion in 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Ecosystem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    For CE retail markets, the market and growth rates are promising. According to PMR<\/a>, a market research firm specializing in Central and Eastern Europe, the market for AV, brown goods \/white goods without IT equipment increased by 7% in 2019 compared to the previous year before dropping down to 2% growth in 2020 to reach a total of 32,7bn PLN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With a currency exchange rate of 4.58 in March 2021, this equals a total market size of EUR 8bn. While the exchange rate has been depreciating as of late, forecasts put the PLN-EUR rate at a bandwith of 4.7 \u2013 4.3 PLN until Q1 2022 (average forecasts of 10 banks<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A whopping 38,2% of sales are already made online (which is higher than the European category average of 31%), and ecommerce grew at about 25%-35% p.a. over the last three years and is expected to double between now and 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The market is dominated by homegrown players with the largest one being TERG (media-expert<\/a>), making 8.4bn PLN in 2020, followed by Euro-net (RTV Euro AGD<\/a> owner) with 8.1 bn PLN and in third place, considerably lagging behind with 3.6bn, foreign player PLNCeconomy (Media Markt<\/a>). Places 4 and 5 are taken by X-KOM<\/a> (2.5bn PLN) and Komputronik<\/a> (1.6bn PLN), respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The market came together fast, and the 5 biggest players now (2021) control north of 70% of the total market – this is an increase from a rate of 60.2% in 2020 and 69.7% in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One interesting player to point out here is ALLEGRO!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Allegro came into existence in 1999 as an auction site. While the purpose of the site remains the same, there has been a slight change in its mode of operation \u2013 sales no longer follow the auction model. The prices of products are now fixed, with slight differences between different sellers. Shares in Polish e-commerce group Allegro leapt more than 60% in October 2020, giving the company a market value of almost $19 billion in Europe\u2019s biggest initial public offering (IPO) so far this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Allegro is one of the leading technology-driven trading companies in Poland and in Europe. Allegro was founded in 1999 in Pozna\u0144 and today has offices in Warsaw, Toru\u0144, Wroc\u0142aw and Krak\u00f3w. From an auction site for hobbyists, it has evolved into the most popular e-commerce platform. Allegro currently employs over 1,800 people, nearly half of whom are top-class experts in technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    According to the report \u201cE-commerce in Poland 2019\u201d conducted by Gemius, a renowned market research company, 80% of respondents identified the Allegro platform as their preferred brand in the e-commerce industry.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \"allegro\"<\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    21 million accounts have been created on the platform so far. Customers buy over 1.2 million products every day, over 95% of which are new items, sold at a fixed price, with a warranty and insurance. Allegro offers modern online financial services, such as 0% renewable instalments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A significant part of the Allegro Group, Allegro is a top e-commerce company. The brand also used to own PayU<\/a> \u2013 an online payment system, Ceneo<\/a> \u2013 a price comparison site, and other top services, including OtoMoto<\/a> and Bankier<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    AMAZON.PL launched recently (yes this is in March 2021<\/strong>!) and is expected to experience difficulties growing due to the presence of strong local players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Every year, MONEY.PL and the 2nd biggest weekly magazine Wprost release a ranking of the best online shops in the CE category. In 2020, the ranking looked as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    1. Komputronik<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Neo24.pl (NeoNet<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Euro.com.pl<\/a> (Euro-net)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Vobis.pl<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. e-cyforwe.pl<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. morele.net<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    7. electro.pl<\/a> (MediaExpert)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

      Influencers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      The media landscape in Poland is deeply polarized, having started to take form after 1989 with many old titles ceasing to exist and new ones emerging. Gazeta Wyborcza is the biggest newspaper today and was founded during that time. The largest online portal to watch is onet.pl with highly polarizing political topics, from far left to far right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Circulation of hard copy newspapers is poor. The best-seller “Fakt” (BILD-like tabloid) sells about 300 000 copies, “Wyborcza” 110 000 copies. Super Express and Rzeczpospolita are other titles to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      When it comes to lifestyle media, there are several hundred titles with a large sector of women’s press (top 5) as well as Polish editions of “Vogue”, “Playboy”, “Forbes and  “National Geographic”. Top-shelf and luxury magazines are less popular, but the selection is growing and so are society columns (“Viva”, “Gala”, “Party”) as well as male-focused press like  “Logo”, “Men’s Health”, “CKM” and “Esquire”. There is a large number of polish magazines<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Online subscriptions are gaining popularity, and most titles have paywalls. After onet.pl<\/a>, the most important portals are:<\/p>\n\n\n

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