The industry that became the catalyst for the entire Polish e-commerce market in 2004 was the low-cost airline segment. In total, the turnover of this industry accounted for 76% of all financial flows carried out on the Polish Internet.
Source: eCard 2005
A large market share was held by GSM services and equipment (5%) as well as tourism (5%), which has been gradually generating increasing revenues for 4 years. According to the IAB Poland report, a noticeable trend is the decreasing share of books, CDs, and computer equipment over the last few years, while sales of grocery products are growing, having increased their share over the last 4 years from 6 to 10% (considering the market excluding airlines). A new category of products that gained a stronger presence online in 2004 is all kinds of intangible products, such as music in electronic format, antivirus software, or computer services. Interestingly, consumers are also willing to pay for these types of products and services online.
Fear blockade
Fear of scammers and dishonest sellers constitutes a fairly serious barrier hindering the development of the e-commerce market, and not only in the case of countries just entering the commercial arena, but also countries with developed online services. A certain solution to this problem may be the introduction of the international Euro-Label quality mark to the Polish market. The initiative to introduce the mark is part of the implementation of one of the goals of the “Consumer Policy Strategy for 2004 – 2006”, which is to promote e-commerce activity.
– Euro-Label, i.e., a quality mark for e-commerce, is a European symbol of trust in electronic commerce, understandable to customers and sellers – explains Katarzyna Szostak-Tebbens, Deputy Director of the Consumer Policy Department of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. – The task of this symbol is to provide the consumer with a sense of security, so necessary when using electronic commerce systems.
Fear of scammers and dishonest sellers constitutes a fairly serious barrier hindering the development of the e-commerce market, and not only in the case of countries just entering the commercial arena, but also countries with developed online services. A certain solution to this problem may be the introduction of the international Euro-Label quality mark to the Polish market. The initiative to introduce the mark is part of the implementation of one of the goals of the “Consumer Policy Strategy for 2004 – 2006”, which is to promote e-commerce activity.
– Euro-Label, i.e., a quality mark for e-commerce, is a European symbol of trust in electronic commerce, understandable to customers and sellers – explains Katarzyna Szostak-Tebbens, Deputy Director of the Consumer Policy Department of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. – The task of this symbol is to provide the consumer with a sense of security, so necessary when using electronic commerce systems.
Euro-Label identifies a list of electronic stores that truly deserve trust, therefore it can be the most important mechanism supporting e-commerce and increasing online sales in Poland. The Euro-Label mark, known for many years in Western Europe, can simply be read as a certificate that “this store does not cheat and guarantees transaction conditions in accordance with European Union recommendations”. The mark is awarded only to those stores that guarantee secure transmission of the customer’s personal data, have clearly defined rules for purchase, delivery, and possible returns, and are characterized by a high standard of customer service. This gives the customer a sense of security, and for the seller, it is good advertising. Especially since the Euro-Label mark is not awarded once and for all. Certified stores are subject to audits once a year aimed at confirming the honesty of the trade conducted. OnetPasaż, as the first service grouping online stores, will support the certification of Polish e-stores according to the criteria of the European Code of Conduct. Such an opinion was recently expressed by Wojciech Tomaszewski, the manager of the passage. The national organization certifying according to Euro-Label criteria is the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing in Poznań.