(excerpt from the book “Electronic Economy in Poland – 2005 Report”, prepared by the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing)
The turnover of online stores is growing year by year. It is estimated that the year 2005 closed at the level of 1 billion PLN. The assortment offered in online stores in Poland mainly concerned new products. Only 3 percent of e-stores also sold used products.
The structure of products offered by online stores has not changed compared to the previous year. The group of most frequently offered products still included items such as: books, CDs, movies, computer and electronic equipment, clothing, sports equipment, and software (chart 1). A very clear increase in turnover was recorded by stores offering household appliances and consumer electronics; the value of this segment in 2005 amounted to 100 million PLN. The success of selling household appliances or consumer electronics, which are significantly heavier and have larger
dimensions than products previously sold online, also results from an increasingly wide offer and the effectiveness of courier companies whose services are used by e-stores. Examples from the market show that the boundary of the types of products that can be
sold via the Internet is blurring. Offers of products that are unusual for online sales are appearing on the market. An example of this could be the sale of coal. In 2005, the Coal Company (Kompania Węglowa) began testing a coal sales system via the Internet and has already
sold it to several selected companies this way. In 2006, buying coal via the Internet will also be possible for individual customers. Furthermore, the online sale of medicines is becoming increasingly popular. Although a change in pharmaceutical law is required for such
sales to be legal, several stores are already selling medicines electronically. Among the second group of B2C companies, not classified as
e-stores, one could mainly find offers related to the sale of tours, travel tickets, and accommodation (chart 2). This segment was also one of the largest in terms of turnover in the entire B2C electronic commerce in 2005.
The article comes from the magazine “e-Fakty” 4/2006.