The number of online stores in Poland has been growing by 25% annually for the last three years
Poland is one of the most dynamically developing e-commerce markets in Europe. At the end of May, there were 49.3 thousand registered in the KRS register. online stores – nearly 3,000. more than at the end of 1. quarter of this year. However, its nearly 60%. of them are struggling financially. In the clothing industry, spring is traditionally a time of intensive promotional campaigns, but this year and last year the period coincided with the closing of shopping malls. As indicated by report ExpertSender, fashion brands, realizing the increased competition on the Internet, took more care about the quality of content delivered to customers.
The number of online stores in Poland has been growing for the last three years by 25 percent. yearly, which puts us At the forefront of the most rapidly growing e-commerce markets in Europe, according to data from the business intelligence firm Dun&Brandstreet. At the end of May, the following companies were registered in the National Court Register 49.3 thousand. of online stores – by almost 3 thousand. more than at the end of 1. In the second quarter of this year and by 127%. more than at the end of 2013. According to ExpertSender, a Polish company that supports brands in data-driven marketing automation, Online shopping is now used by almost 80% of the population. Poles – nearly ⅕ even a few times a week. It is therefore hardly surprising that many companies are shifting the burden of their activities to the Internet.
Most stationary clothing stores are in a bad financial situation
At the same time, the number of traditional stores is systematically decreasing. The largest number of small stores with clothes and shoes run on market places – nearly 10 thousand., which is a decrease of 19.6 percent. since 2013. The situation is not much better in the footwear and leather goods retail industry, the number of which since 2013. dropped by over 17%. In the same period by 4 percent. The number of watch and jewelry stores also declined. Half of retail stores are experiencing serious financial trouble, according to Dun&Brandstreet in good or very good condition is only 48% of all fashion brands. Traditional clothing stores are the worst performers, with 57% of them. are in a bad or very bad financial situation.
As of early 2021. Poles have suspended almost 10 percent of their. of all online store operations
However, according to the data, just setting up an online store is not enough for success. In the first five months of 2021. Poles suspended 2.1 thousand. online stores, and throughout 2020. – 3.9 thousand. of online stores, which accounts for 8.6 percent of the total number of registered e-shops in Poland. of all registered e-commerce entities in Poland. Among traditional retail stores, the number of suspended business ranges from 2 to 3.5 percent. relative to the total number of businesses in operation. More than 58 percent. Internet stores have financial problems. An assessment of the financial situation was made by Dun&Brandstreet based on no more than 2 years old financial data of nearly 5 thousand. stores.
Fashion brands bet on modern solutions and good quality content
Particularly difficult situation of stores from the clothing industry may result from the fact that spring is traditionally the time of intensive promotional campaigns, especially online, related to the introduction of collections for the new season. However, in mid-March 2020. the number of advertising mailings decreased as campaigns were put on hold pending developments, according to report ExpertSender. This year the situation was not easy either – the third wave of pandemic and closing of shopping malls fell on February, March and April. The number of emails sent remained at a similar level to 2020., while the opening rate increased by 3.2-5.1 percent., and clicks on links contained in messages by 0.8-0.9 percent.
The closure of shopping malls – and with it, many stationary clothing stores – has resulted in an increased interest in online stores and in offers sent via e-mail – explains Karol Olszewski, eCommerce Account Manager at ExpertSender – In recent months, fashion brands, realizing the increased competition in the email channel, have taken care of the quality of their contact bases and the content they send to subscribers. They started to use more advanced features of our marketing automation platform, including dynamic content, which allows for automatic selection of the best content for a given customer, depending on their characteristics, preferences and purchase history. Better selected content and removal of “dead souls” from the databases resulted in more recipients opening the e-mails and clicking on the links included in them.
Data quoted in the text comes from the Dun study & Bradstreet. Data from the National Court Register was analyzed. In the case of commercial companies, the financial situation of the company was evaluated on the basis of the balance sheet and income statements, while in the case of entities that do not keep full accounting, which is quite common among retailers, it was based on the company’s revenue, costs and financial result. The main factors influencing the assessment are liquidity ratio, debt, profitability, financial capacity, level of recorded overdue payments and registered bankruptcy or reorganization proceedings, declaration of bankruptcy, commencement of liquidation process and negative press.