The share of the online sales market in Poland increased by 55% from the end of 2019 to the peak during the pandemic, according to the CBRE report “E-commerce in the post-pandemic era”. Currently, its value is even higher, thanks to which Poland is ahead of the forecast trend by almost 3 years. This is the highest score taking into account the CEE countries and the second highest in Europe (after Portugal).
“The intensive development of e-commerce in the pandemic had the potential to permanently change the approach of Europeans to the way they shop. Therefore, we decided to check to what extent it was possible. It turns out that in many countries after a period of rapid growth, the situation returned to the trend before the lockdown or the share of online consumption is even lower than forecasts. It is different in Poland, where we are seeing the highest growth in the development of the e-commerce market compared to the time before the pandemic. The share of online shopping in our country is currently at a level where it would be only in three years if the trend before the pandemic continued. In addition, we observe that accelerated growth continues all the time, which means that the shopping habits of Poles have changed long-term,” says Agata Czarnecka, head of research and analysis at CBRE.
The total online shopping expenditures in Central and Eastern Europe account for less than 10% of all sales on the continent. The most important market is Poland, which accounts for over 46% of online purchases in the CEE and SEE regions. In second place are the Czech Republic, with a share of almost 17%, and in the third place Romania, which accounts for more than 9% of expenditure. Hungary, Slovakia, South-Eastern European and Baltic countries make a significant smaller contribution, covering together a quarter of the market.
The pandemic-led jump in the development of e-commerce in Poland was 55%, in the Czech Republic it reached 48%, and in Romania 25%. However, only in our country has the upward trend continued even after the lifting of the lockdown. As a result, Poland is currently ahead of the forecast trend of online purchases by 3 years, while the Czech Republic loses 1.3 years and Romania is also indicated.
The largest e-commerce markets in Europe are the UK and Germany. Together, they account for almost half of all online shopping expenses in the region. After the increase in online sales in the pandemic, its growth continues, although at a much lower level than in Poland. Germany is ahead of growth forecasted before the pandemic by 0.8 years and the UK by 0.1.
“The vast majority of Europeans prefer stationary shopping. We are now seeing how much they have lived through shopping centres across the continent. The same is true in Poland, where intensive growth on the e-commerce market goes hand in hand with the development of stationary trade. The growing love of Poles for online shopping requires a strong emphasis on further integration of both markets in the omnichannel system. So even better adaptation of stationary stores to the needs of customers who increasingly want to watch live products, and then order them online or vice versa, buy online, but have the opportunity to return in the store in the gallery,” concluded the director in the sales department of CBRE Mariusz Majkowski.
Source: CBRE and ISBnews
