Online purchase of food becoming more popular in Poland

2010-02-07

Online sales of grocery products have the potential to capture 5% of the PLN 200bn-plus a year Polish food market over the next decade, Maria Andrzej Faliński, general director of the Polish Trade and Distribution Organisation (POHiD), told Central Europe Retail Update
In 2010, e-stores which sell food will generate sales revenues of PLN 300m (€73m), and by 2014 this subdivision of e-commerce will grow by up to 200%, according to the forecast of Jerzy Mazgaj, the chairman of the Alma Market delicatessen chain, quoted in Puls Biznesu.
Alma Market is developing its Alma.24.pl online delicatessen food store. By the end of March 2010, e-Alma expects to have a presence in 11 cities and conurbations in Poland. Alma’s online division reports year-on-year increases in sales of around 100%: in 2008 it earned sales revenues of PLN 6m (€1.4m), whereas in 2009 the figure was PLN 16m (€3.9m). In 2010, the retailer hopes to earn PLN 30m (€7.3m) via the internet.
Other market players such as the online branches of Piotr i Pawel, E.Leclerc, A.pl and Frisco.pl also report increases in food sales. According to Witold Ferenc, the chairman of the latter store, Warsaw has the greatest potential in terms of the development of online food sales. It is thought that within three years e-sales of food in the Warsaw aglomeration will be worth PLN 200m (€48.8m) in the capital.
A.pl reports an average 25% year-on-year increase in the value of orders. Furthermore, in January 2010, online sales improved because of the cold weather, which always boosts online shopping.


Online sales are a complement to traditional formats, not a substitute, and this is unlikely to change in the future. However, the size of this complementary sales channel is set to grow: whereas retail sales at brick-and-mortar stores are expanding by several percent annually and the e-commerce market as a whole by less than 20%, online sales of food products are growing by several tens of percent per year.
At the moment, online sales in Poland are dominated by non-food items (books, consumer electronics, clothing, records, various accessories), but we will soon see a mushrooming of grocery offerings, mainly in the upmarket segment (delicatessen products). These offerings will come from delicatessen chains, mid-market food chains that broaden their product selection to include premium products both in-store and online, as well as an expanding number of speciality online stores that focus on the luxury banquet/catering sector.
There is also a little-noticed but expanding segment of local and community online grocery retailing, with stores offering daily (call it “breakfast”) and weekly deliveries.

Maria Andrzej Faliński
General Director of the Polish Trade and Distribution Organisation (POHiD)