What Polish ShoppersTaught EuropeAbout Trust

In Poznań, a 34-year-old project manager named Michał orders the same brand of running shoes every six months. He knows his size, trusts the seller, and completes checkout in under ninety seconds. He represents 45% of Polish online shoppers—people who have already decided what they want and measure every merchant by how quickly they can get out of the way. Acquiring Michał through Allegro costs roughly €15. Reaching him through a standalone brand website costs closer to €40, according to payment service provider data. In Gdańsk, a retired teacher named Barbara spends forty minutes comparing prices across three marketplaces before buying a kitchen appliance. She represents 35% of the market—shoppers for whom the Omnibus Directive's 30-day price history is not a regulatory footnote but a decision-making tool. Barbara will abandon a cart if shipping costs surprise her. The third cohort is smaller but lucrative: the 20% who shop for experience rather than efficiency. They accept higher prices for better packaging, faster support, and the feeling of buying from a brand rather than a platform. These buyers justify direct-to-consumer investment—but they are the minority, not the market.

In January 2023, Poland's consumer protection authority UOKiK issued its first major fine under the EU Omnibus Directive: a home electronics retailer that advertised discounts without showing the lowest price from the preceding 30 days. The penalty reached into seven figures. Since then, the regulator has made price transparency its signature enforcement priority, calling the 30-day rule 'the most significant change' in its 2023 activity report. Polish shoppers noticed. Gemius surveys show consumers now actively check whether a crossed-out price has a reference period—and avoid merchants that omit it. The practical requirements are specific: every advertised discount must display the lowest price from the past month. Returns must follow the statutory 14-day withdrawal window, and failure to disclose this extends the period to twelve months, according to guidance from konsument.gov.pl. Cookie consent cannot be a single 'accept all' button. Email opt-ins require explicit confirmation. Polish-language content is not optional for credibility. The enforcement environment has created an unexpected filter: brands unwilling to invest in compliance infrastructure often discover this at the worst possible moment—when a customer complaint reaches UOKiK and a percentage of annual revenue becomes the price of a shortcut.

In 2015, six Polish banks that competed fiercely for deposits did something unusual: they agreed to build a shared payment system. PKO Bank Polski, mBank, ING, Santander, BNP Paribas, and Millennium created BLIK as a consortium, embedding the same six-digit code into each of their mobile apps. The bet was that Polish consumers, scarred by payment fraud and sceptical of foreign card networks, would trust their own bank more than a Visa overlay. They were right. By 2024, BLIK processed 2.4 billion transactions according to the National Bank of Poland—1.2 billion of them in online stores, up 27% from the prior year. An EY economic impact study estimates BLIK supported 1.2% of Poland's GDP in 2024, generating PLN 42 billion in value added. The system now handles 68% of Polish e-commerce payments, per Gemius research. Cards have not disappeared, but they have been relegated: 43% of online transactions still use them, mostly for subscriptions or purchases by foreign shoppers. The implications for merchants are concrete. Payment service providers report that checkouts placing BLIK first see meaningfully lower cart abandonment than those burying it below card options. On mobile, where most Polish shopping happens, the gap widens further. Seven billion BLIK transactions since launch have trained consumers to expect those six digits. A checkout that asks for sixteen feels like a step backward.

A shopper in Łódź adds a Bluetooth speaker to her cart. She sees BLIK at the top of the payment options and relaxes slightly—this merchant understands how things work here. She selects locker delivery, notes the guaranteed arrival by tomorrow evening, and completes the purchase in under two minutes. A shopper in the same city, on a different site, encounters card payment first. She scrolls. She wonders if BLIK is even available. The doubt costs the merchant a sale. This hierarchy—trust, then convenience, then price—defines Polish checkout behaviour. Payment service providers running A/B tests report that BLIK-first layouts convert 12-18% better than card-first alternatives. On mobile, where scrolling introduces friction, burying BLIK below the fold increases abandonment by 23-31%. Delivery expectations follow a similar pattern. Polish shoppers do not pay premiums for same-day delivery; they expect next-day to lockers as the default, priced at or near free. Gemius data shows 81% prefer locker pickup over home delivery—not because they distrust couriers, but because lockers offer something couriers cannot: certainty. A package in a locker stays there until claimed, at any hour. The brands achieving conversion rates well above Western European averages are not those with the most polished interfaces. They are the ones that place BLIK first, default to locker delivery, and communicate arrival times before the customer has to ask.

Rafał Brzoska founded InPost in 1999 as a traditional courier company. It nearly went bankrupt twice. Then he made a bet that seemed absurd: Polish consumers would prefer walking to metal boxes over waiting at home for deliveries. He was betting against decades of logistics orthodoxy—that convenience meant doorstep service. By 2024, InPost operated over 25,000 parcel lockers across Poland, according to its investor filings. The company delivered 1.09 billion parcels that year, up from 893 million in 2023. Its signature yellow APMs are now visible at metro stations, shopping centres, and petrol stations across the country. The Warsaw Business Journal reports InPost commands 45% of the door-to-door delivery market—a remarkable share for a company whose core product eliminates the door entirely. Gemius surveys explain why: 81% of Polish online shoppers now prefer locker pickup to home delivery. Lockers are available 24 hours. There are no missed deliveries. Returns are simple—drop the package, scan the code, leave. The 36% of shoppers who use lockers for returns cite speed and reliability over courier pickup. For merchants, the economics are equally compelling. Checkout analytics show locker-default configurations convert at higher rates than home-delivery defaults, with meaningfully lower return friction. Same-day delivery exists as a premium option, but Reuters reporting suggests limited demand—Polish shoppers appear satisfied with next-day when certainty is guaranteed.

When Allegro went public in 2020, it was the largest European e-commerce IPO that year. The Warsaw-based marketplace had built something rare: a local champion that had fended off Amazon in its home market. By end of 2024, Euromonitor International estimated Allegro held 38.8% of Polish e-commerce market share. Amazon.pl held 3.9%, followed by AliExpress at 3.4% and Temu at 1.5%—testament to how thoroughly local infrastructure advantages protect the incumbent. The remaining half of the market fragments across smaller platforms and direct-to-consumer stores. This concentration shapes strategy for anyone entering Poland. Allegro's 21 million active buyer accounts represent immediate reach that no standalone brand can replicate through advertising alone. Marketplace fees run 12-18% of transaction value, depending on category. Direct-to-consumer sites avoid those fees but face customer acquisition costs of €35-65 per first purchase—unsustainable for most brands without marketplace-driven brand awareness. Reuters reported in March 2025 that Allegro plans to install 2,500 additional parcel lockers, deepening its infrastructure moat. The platform's Smart loyalty programme, similar to Amazon Prime, has enrolled millions of subscribers who filter searches by fast-delivery eligibility. Meanwhile, Gemius data shows 36% of Polish shoppers have purchased from foreign sites, suggesting appetite for assortments unavailable domestically. The practical answer is rarely one channel. Brands treating Allegro as a discovery engine while building direct relationships with repeat customers tend to survive the margin arithmetic.

Consider three paths for a brand targeting €1 million in Polish revenue over twelve months. The first path runs entirely through Allegro. Platform fees consume 18% of each transaction. Customer acquisition costs are modest because the marketplace delivers traffic, but the brand owns no customer data. Year-one contribution might reach €147,000—a 17% margin that leaves little room for error. The second path attempts direct-to-consumer from day one. Without marketplace credibility, customer acquisition costs roughly double. Paid social becomes the primary driver, but conversion rates suffer because Polish shoppers have not heard of the brand. Year-one losses of €120,000 are common, according to patterns in the European Commission's SME data for Poland. Profitability requires 18-24 months of sustained spending. The third path combines both channels: 60% of revenue through Allegro for reach, 40% through a branded store for margin and data. Platform fees fall because not everything flows through the marketplace. Customer acquisition costs remain manageable because Allegro exposure builds awareness. Year-one contribution reaches €350,000—nearly 30% margin—while the brand accumulates email addresses and repeat buyers it actually owns. This arithmetic explains why experienced entrants rarely commit to a single channel. The marketplace provides distribution; the direct store provides defensibility. The IMF projects 3.2% GDP growth for Poland in 2025, suggesting consumer spending will reward brands positioned to capture both traffic and loyalty.

In late 2023, Temu began flooding Polish social media with advertisements. The Chinese marketplace offered prices that domestic retailers could not match, accepting thin margins in exchange for market share. By end of 2024, Temu had accumulated 9.6 million users in Poland—the fourth-largest European market after Germany, France, and Italy. Gemius surveys showed 36% of Polish shoppers had purchased from foreign websites—up six percentage points from the prior year. But the data revealed something the headline obscured: Polish consumers remained wary of delivery times. Temu parcels initially arrived in 14-21 days. The platform has since established Polish logistics operations, reducing delivery to 5-7 days—but trust gaps persist. Six EU countries including Poland have formally demanded action from the European Commission, citing product safety concerns. The EU found Temu in breach of Digital Services Act requirements in July 2025. The economic context matters here. Inflation peaked at 18.4% in February 2023 before declining sharply—reaching 5.0% by October 2024 according to National Bank of Poland data. By late 2025, GUS estimates showed inflation at 2.9%—a sharp cooling. The European Commission projects GDP growth of 3.5% for Poland in 2026. Real wages are recovering, creating purchasing power that did not exist two years ago. This combination—returning confidence and entrenched caution—defines the current moment. Mordor Intelligence projects the e-commerce market reaching USD 37.4 billion by 2030. Shoppers have more money, but they still check 30-day price histories before buying. They will explore foreign platforms, but they will not tolerate delivery surprises or product safety risks. The window is open for brands that meet local expectations. It will not stay open indefinitely.

Every market entry carries risks. Poland's are specific and identifiable. First, Amazon could localise fully. Reuters has reported continued interest, though timelines remain unclear. A serious Amazon Poland push would compress marketplace margins, inflate customer acquisition costs, and accelerate infrastructure competition. Brands establishing strong category positions before this happens gain defensibility those arriving later will lack. Second, Allegro could raise fees. Investor pressure to improve take rates is real; Western European marketplaces charge 15-22%, while Allegro sits at 12-18%. Building a direct-to-consumer hedge before fee increases protects margins. Third, Poland's export-driven economy remains exposed to geopolitical disruption. The IMF forecasts stable growth, but the country's proximity to Ukraine introduces uncertainty that spreadsheets cannot fully capture. Brands maintaining flexible cost structures and diversified inventory sources manage this better than those locked into rigid commitments. The remaining risks are operational: locker capacity during peak seasons, BLIK integration failures during checkout, and compliance violations that trigger UOKiK scrutiny. None of these are catastrophic if addressed proactively. The broader pattern is that Poland's risks are lower than its eastern geography suggests. Infrastructure is mature. Regulation is clear. Consumer behaviour is predictable. The brands that fail here usually fail because they treated predictable challenges as surprises.