Western and Central Europeans now make almost a quarter of their online purchases from merchants based outside the country they live in. This figure should give pause to any merchant loo king for new opportunities, as the ecommerce market in this region is worth the equivalent of USD 768 billion.
A market overview
Merchants looking for the first market to target in their cross-border expansion should consider Poland, as Poles love online shopping. They spend almost EUR 30 billion a year with online merchants and, between now and 2025, the figure is predicted to grow by a whopping 59%, reaching a total of EUR 47 billion.
A fifth of Poles shop cross-border, indicating their willingness to try new merchants and shopping experiences as long as they’re offered the right price, the right promotions, and the right customer experience.
With an Internet penetration of almost 90% and little under 80% of the population owning a smartphone, Poland is well connected, both by physical infrastructure and digital. Capacity in the last-mile logistics sector is expected to increase by 43% to over 1 billion parcels until 2023, as Poles already spend an estimated USD 1 billion per year with cross-border merchants.
Prepping your payments strategy for Poland
Given the lucrative prospect the Polish markets presents, it may be tempting to imagine, particularly as Poland is in the EU single market, that any merchant familiar with other Western and Central European markets can simply open a shop here without much preparation. But like all markets, Poland has its local preferences.
First of is how Poles prefer paying for their online purchases. Just 17% of Poles have a credit card, and cards are used in only 23% of all online purchases. By far the most popular type of payment method is the bank-transfer, with a 53% market share for online payments. Polish online shoppers used e-wallets in 16% of transactions, cash in 5%, and a range of other payment methods in the remaining 3% of the cases.
Any strategy to win over Polish online shoppers must consider this reality. If merchants are only relying on customers using credit cards to make a payment, they will, at the most, reach 23% of the potential market. However, by supporting the full range of locally preferred payment options, new merchants can penetrate the Polish market and hope to gain consumers’ trust, as well as achieve the maximum conversion rate possible.
The most popular ways to pay in Poland
Bank transfer payment method BLIK is of particular importance. Founded in 2015, it is compatible with the online portals of most of Poland’s leading banks. It counts for eight million active users, roughly one fifth of the country's population. Moreover, Poles use it in more than 400 million transactions every year and this payment method has a 60% market share of all Polish ecommerce.
The second most popular ecommerce payment method in Poland, P24, is another real-time bank transfer app. 72% of the country's online shoppers use it to pay for at least some of their transactions.
Paysafe comes in third, although some might consider it a more niched payment method. It allows users to shop online without using any kind of digital payment method. Customers simply choose “Paysafe” at the checkout, record the 16-digit code generated by the Paysafe server, take that code to a participating retail outlet, pay in cash, and wait for their goods to arrive. Poles pay for 5% of all online purchases using cash-payment schemes such as this.
To find out more about the Polish ecommerce market, why you should want to be active in it, and what you can do to ensure you succeed, check out the PPRO Western & Central Europe Ecommerce and Payments report. It consists of detailed information on the Polish market and the same for all the other major markets in the region, as well as exclusive PPRO data on payment preferences in Poland, and throughout the region.
About Jamie Lee
Originally from New Zealand and currently based in London, Jamie has previously worked for Bank of America, BBC, Capita, and CBRE. In his current role at PPRO, Jamie is the brilliant account lead for the company’s largest payment service provider customers in EMEA, providing strategic consultancy and helping them grow their business even faster.
About PPRO
PPRO is a fintech company that globalises payment platforms for businesses, allowing them to offer more choice at the checkout and boost cross-border sales. Payment service providers, enterprises, and banks that run on PPRO's infrastructure are able to launch payment methods faster, optimise checkout conversions, and reduce the complexities of managing multiple fund flows. Citi, PayPal, and Stripe are just some of the names that depend on PPRO to expand their platforms beyond borders. In 2020 alone, the company processed EUR 8.84 billion for its partners. And with a growing global team of over 400 people, it’s no wonder why they’re considered the go-to local payments experts.
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