According to statistics, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amount to USD 3 trillion per annum, with Asia experiencing the fastest growth of almost 30%. By comparison, e-commerce in Europe is estimated at more than EUR 602 billion, nearly 60% of which is generated by three markets: the UK, Germany and France. At the end of December 2018, Poland’s e-commerce market was worth more than PLN 50 billion, accounting for over 2% of the European e-retailing, but is likely to hit PLN 80 billion in the coming years.
What affects the growth of e-commerce in Poland?
The rapid growth of e-commerce is largely being driven by the expansion of omnichannel and the rising penetration rate of online retailing (share of total sales). Retailers are focusing on customer experience to enable convenient and quick shopping on any device. In response to customers’ needs, they are already developing additional mobile sales channels. Looking ahead, this is expected to have a considerable effect on return logistics and improving processing times. With further technological advancements and new sales channels gaining in importance, e-commerce tenants will force the warehouse market to change.
"The logistics market is a reflection of retail trends. As omnichannel is increasingly turning into a new retail strategy combining offline and online transactions, big data and logistics, warehouses are no longer just places for pallet loading, unloading and storage, but have become centres where to gain a competitive advantage and develop added-value products and services. Modern logistics spaces are complex combinations of diverse storage and order picking zones, operational and return processing space. This is also increasingly relevant to the human-automation symbiosis. There is still a long way to go before drones do stocktaking, but intelligent cognitive robots, complex sorters and multi-level pick towers being integral parts of a warehouse ecosystem are now standard features. This is confirmed by our research that has also revealed other trends such as ongoing VAS customisation and setting up 3D printing points in warehouses”
- says Damian Kołata, Associate, Industrial and Logistics Agency, Cushman & Wakefield.
Poland’s total warehouse stock amounts to more than 16 million sq m, of which nearly 25% is dedicated to e-commerce. Three voivodeships: Łódzkie, Lower Silesia and Silesia account for 56% or more than 2.2 million sq m of the sector’s stock. E-commerce tenants make up four categories: global online-only retailers such as Zalando, Amazon and Answear.com, retailers pursing omnichannel strategies (Smyk, Vistula Retail Group, KRM, LPP, Leroy Merlin, Decathlon and MediaMarkt Saturn), logistics operators with experience in cooperation with e-commerce (Arvato Bertelsmann, Fiege, Rhenus Logistics, DHL Supply Chain and Spedimex), and CEP (courier, express and parcel) companies such as DHL, DPD, InPost, TNT, GLS, UPS and FedEx.
