E-commerce and payment preferences in Poland

Discover how Poles like to shop and pay online

Poland: an e-commerce & payments primer

Poland is a booming market. E-commerce is worth around US$28 billion annually and is expected to grow at a rate of 11% a year between 2022 and 2026 [1]. According to the European Commission, 18% of Polish small businesses sell online, up from 13% just two years ago, and 5% use an online store to sell cross border [2]. 

The average Polish online shopper spends US$727 with e-merchants every year [1]. The things Poles buy most online are fashion (purchased by 45% of online shoppers), electronics (19%) and toys (15%) [1]. Almost a third of Polish online shoppers buy things from merchants based outside Poland [1], with China, Germany and the UK as the favorite online cross-border shopping destinations [1].

Allegro is the biggest online store in Poland, with 260 million online sales and almost fourteen million active sellers [3]. In total, around 7% of all consumer sales in Poland happen online [1]. Almost 80% of Poles shop online at least once in a year [4]. Around 45% of online sales happen on marketplaces such as Allegro or Amazon Poland [5].

Poles pay for just 18% of online purchases using credit cards [1]. In the remaining 82% of e-commerce transactions, Polish online shoppers use alternative and local payment methods. They use bank transfers to pay for 54% of online purchases, an e-wallet in 18%, cash in 3%, and 7% of purchases they pay for with some other means [1]. The card market is split between Visa and Mastercard, each with 50% of the market [1].

Polish e-commerce: enabling and limiting factors

Poland is 28th out of 160 countries on the World Bank Global Logistics Performance Index [6]. The Polish parcel sector is dominated by the Polish logistics company InPost, which has a 40% market share [6]. Collectively, Polish courier companies deliver more than one billion parcels each year [6]. And their capacity is growing by 31% a year [6]. Around a third of all warehouse capacity in the country is given over to e-commerce, an 84% increase since 2019 [7]. 

Almost 90% of Poles have a bank account and 19% a credit card [1]. Financial exclusion shouldn’t be a problem for merchants who want to expand, or sell cross border, into Poland. But as the payment data above indicates, merchants and their partners cannot rely on standard US or UK payment models. Less than a fifth of adult Poles have a credit card. Support for alternative and local payment methods is key for any merchant planning to crack the Polish e-commerce market.

Almost 80% of Poles have an Internet connection and 65% have an Internet-enabled smartphone [1]. Over 40% of the population has at least basic digital skills [2]. More than 85% of the population uses the Internet, 66% online banking and 65% social media [2]. Unless their business model is built around targeting specific and under-server groups, a merchant entering the Polish market will have no problem with digital exclusion.

Footnotes:

  1. Original PPRO research 
  2. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/desi-poland 
  3. https://about.allegro.eu/financial-results 
  4. https://www.gemius.com/all-reader-news/the-2022-e-commerce-in-poland-report.html
  5. https://ecommercegermany.com/blog/poland-the-e-commerce-gateway-to-central-and-eastern-europe 
  6. https://europaproperty.com/the-value-of-the-cep-parcel-market-in-poland-has-exceeds-pln17-billion
  7. https://industrial.pl/en/news/reports/647-e-commerce-is-bursting-at-its-seams-and-warehouses-are-following-report

Poland

General Information

  • Population 37.8 m
  • Population 15 + 32.0 m
  • Online population 29.6 m
  • Area 312,679 km2
  • Currency PLN
  • GDP 655.3 bn $US
  • GDP per capita 17,337 $US
  • Card-based payments
  • Cash-based payments
  • Bank transfer
  • Wallets
  • Other
[{"label":"Card-based payments","value":"18"},{"label":"Cash-based payments","value":"3"},{"label":"Bank transfer","value":"54"},{"label":"Wallets","value":"18"},{"label":"Other","value":"7"}]
Banked population
  • Poland 89%
  • Western & Central Europe 96%
  • World 67%
Credit card penetration
  • Poland 19%
  • Western & Central Europe 47%
  • World 19%
Internet penetration
  • Poland 78%
  • Western & Central Europe 92%
  • World 62%
Smartphone penetration
  • Poland 65%
  • Western & Central Europe 81%
  • World 70%

Cash is still the most common form of payment in Poland, with 94% using it, followed by payment cards (92%) and bank transfer (80%). Digital wallets are not as popular as in other European countries with 57% versus 70%.

Social commerce is forecast to grow by CAGR 57.2% between 2022 and 2028, rising from 2,760.1 m $US to 39,362.1 m $US in 2028.

The Polish economy started to slow in the second quarter of 2022, with GDP growth dropping from 8.5 to 5.3%. Like most of Europe, Poland is grappling with rising prices and a very tight labour market.

allegro.pl was Poland’s most popular e-commerce store in July 2022 and had 187.7 m visits that month.

Future e-commerce trends (2021-2026)

B2C e-commerce ($US billion)
2022 32.1
2023 36.3
2024 40.6
2025 44.9
2026 49.1
E-commerce spending per capita ($US)
2022 841
2023 953
2024 1069
2025 1186
2026 1300
E-commerce spending as % of GDP
2022 4.7%
2023 5.0%
2024 5.3%
2025 5.5%
2026 5.7%

Poland

The E-Commerce Market

Top e-commerce segments

  1. Fashion: 45%
  2. Electronics & Media: 19%
  3. Toys, Hobby & DIY: 15%
  4. Furniture & Appliances: 11%
  5. Food & Personal Care: 10%

Cross-border e-commerce

  1. Cross-border proportion of total e-commerce – 5%
  2. Value of cross-border e-commerce – 1.3 bn $US
  3. Online shoppers who have shopped cross-border – 32%

Top 3 cross-border shopping origin markets

  1. China: 52%
  2. Germany: 17%
  3. UK: 7%
B2C e-commerce growth 20->21
  • Poland 21.9%
E-commerce % of total retail
  • Poland 7%
  • Western & Central Europe 17%
  • World 20%
E-commerce completed on a mobile device
  • Poland 42%
  • Western & Central Europe 44%
  • World 53%

The Credit Card Split

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
[{"label":"Visa","value":"50"},{"label":"Mastercard","value":"50"}]
  • E-commerce market size 27.8 bn $US
  • E-commerce spending per capita 727 $US
  • E-commerce spending as % of GDP 4.4%

The information on our Insights pages has been compiled by us in cooperation with Datamatics and Wright & Brown. The data shown is partially owned by us and partially owned by GlobalData. © 2021 by PPRO Financial Ltd. No data and information can be used for any further publication without the explicit approval of PPRO.

Poland

Local Payment Methods

BitPay Type Cryptocurrency Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 BLIK Type Bank transfer Regions Western & Central Europe Market relevance High Hyperwallet Type Bank transfer, Gift card, Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High PayPal Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Paysafecard Type Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Paysafecash Type Cash Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, North America + 1 Paysera Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High PayU Type Bank transfer Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 2 Market relevance High Przelewy24 (P24) Type Bank transfer Regions Western & Central Europe Market relevance High SEPA Direct Debit Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Market relevance High Skrill Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Trustly Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, North America + 1 Market relevance High TrustPay Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Allied Wallet Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High UnionPay SecurePay Type Local payment card Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Apple Pay Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High DaoPay Type Carrier billing Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High eRaty Type Buy Now, Pay Later, Instalments Regions Western & Central Europe Market relevance High Google Pay Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Masterpass Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Mobiamo Type Carrier billing Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Orange Money Type Wallet Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 1 Market relevance High P24 Now Type Buy Now, Pay Later, Instalments Regions Western & Central Europe Market relevance High PayPo Type Buy Now, Pay Later, Instalments Regions Western & Central Europe Market relevance High Razer Gold Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High SEPA Credit Transfer Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Market relevance High SWIFT Type Bank transfer Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High WebMoney Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 1 Market relevance High GoPay Type Wallet Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Market relevance Medium KIR Paybynet Type Bank transfer Regions Western & Central Europe Market relevance Medium Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance Medium SEPA Instant Credit Transfers (SCT Inst) Type Bank transfer Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Market relevance Medium Wallet One Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 2 Market relevance Medium Zip Type Buy Now, Pay Later Regions Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, North America + 2 Boloro Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 G2A Pay Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance Medium NETELLER Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 YetiPay Type Wallet Regions Western & Central Europe Twisto Type Wallet Regions Eastern Europe & the CIS, Western & Central Europe Sofort (Klarna) Type Bank transfer Regions Western & Central Europe Market relevance High Splitit Type Instalments Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3

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