Poles are increasingly willing to buy and sell online. The number of users of the popular online auction site Allegro is growing. Recently, a strong competitor from abroad, eBay, has also entered Poland. However, one can never be too careful; e-commerce creates the temptation for certain abuses. Even if we have never bought or sold anything online, we probably have at least a few friends who make purchases this way, more or less frequently. Last summer, Allegro recorded its two-millionth user.
Three million on the web
The three-millionth user registered their account in May of this year. An increase of 33 percent in less than a year is probably not bad. Especially if that 33 percent means a crowd of one million people! There may be even more buyers; recently, eBay, a foreign competitor to Allegro, entered our market. Bartek Szambelan, Allegro’s press spokesperson, assures that his company is not afraid of competition:
– We look at our competitor with respect and goodwill. The entry of such a large player into the market may testify to the great potential dormant in Polish e-commerce. We have a large marketing department, and we continue to implement all the plans and assumptions adopted earlier. And what exactly do we find so attractive about e-commerce? – Poles are only just discovering the advantages of online shopping – believes Bartek Szambelan. – After all, we are working longer and longer hours, and as a result, we have less and less time. In this situation, shopping online becomes the best solution. Either way, our statistics show that all values increase by 100 percent year after year. What’s more, for some users, Allegro is becoming a way of life. A young man from Poznań started a family business at the age of 18. Today, it provides work for his father – a pensioner, his mother, who had never worked before, and five other people. If it’s so good, why do millions of Poles still want to go shopping at hypermarkets? – I have happened to shop on Allegro three times – says Anna Sochacka from Poznań. – I bought a bicycle, a book, and a mobile phone this way. I have never had any problems; no one has ever tried to cheat me.
The article comes from the magazine “e-Fakty” 4/2005.