Retail in Poland − New Challenges and New Strategies

Abstract

From the European perspective, the Polish retail market is characterised by the significant presence of foreign retail chains. This phenomenon is very special when comparing Poland to other European Union (EU) countries that shaped their retail structure through evolutionary approaches with a predominant share of entities being locally owned. Foreign retail groups are also the largest retail companies in Poland. The evident presence of top European retail chains in Poland was mainly due to the radical liberalisation of the Polish economy after 1989, which accompanied by the large scale of the Polish market (40 million consumers), had to attract the top European operators and global retail chains within a short time. The Polish retail internationalization is visible in all formats of the large-format stores. Its highest level is observed in the group of hypermarkets and discount chains, where all the operators represent foreign groups. In comparison to major EU member states, the Polish retail market is characterised by its significant disintegration, which results in a large number of small and medium-sized retail companies. The specificity of Polish retail also involves its very strong polarization, as next to traditional retail, there are also many international retail chains, which manage modern formats of large-format stores. The Polish retail model will however remain unique with traditional retail undergoing rapid change. In the context of challenges related with economic recession, a further growth of importance of discount stores should be anticipated. This results from the permanent shift of demand towards this format. Operators of other formats will respond to this shift by creating and developing a broader discount offer and concentrating more on developing more private labels for their chains. Permanent changes in the behaviour of Polish consumers will involve increasing rationalisation and increased demand for cheap products. This factor will contribute favourably to increased customer demand for private labels. These phenomena will change the perception of chains' private labels and contribute to the further improvement of their quality.