The Internet is changing the shopping habits of Poles

The Internet accompanies us practically every day. We use his resources at work, we privately check what is happening with our friends on Facebook or Twitter. In a word, the Internet has become an important element of our lives for us, we look for entertainment in it, but also more and more often do shopping. Extremely frequent use of this option meant that the network began to change our purchasing habits.

According to the research on the preferences and behavior of Poles, we are eager to use various novelties and methods that make it easier for us to perform our daily activities. Convenience is, for example, one of the factors of the growing popularity in Poland (we are a country at the forefront) of the popularity of contactless payments by credit or debit cards. Such research results were published by Mastercard. The study of the openness of Polish consumers to new forms of non-cash payments, which was carried out in cooperation with the MAISON & PARTNERS research house, shows that we are familiar with non-cash payments, and we especially liked the contactless ones. Most of us are also open to the most innovative payment methods, such as digital wallets or mobile payments. What is the conclusion? First of all, we are open to all kinds of news and we want to be a modern society. We especially like those solutions that, apart from the breeze of novelty, also make our lives easier. In this situation, it may come as no surprise that Poles are becoming increasingly dependent on online shopping. However, as a pragmatic society, we have certain purchasing habits, we check the solutions offered by the market before we gain the appropriate dose of trust in them. It is no different with the e-commerce industry.

Time passed before we realized that distance shopping is safe and secure for us. Now we are more and more willing to use the diverse offer of chain stores, which offer virtually any type of products and all goods, from basic groceries to shopping for houses or plots, e.g. on shopping portals such as Allegro. According to a 2015 study of the e-commerce industry in Poland, online buyers are characterized by high awareness of e-commerce brands and services available on the Internet.

What are Poles' shopping habits like? When making purchases, we are guided mainly by convenience, savings and greater choice than in traditional stores. It is also worth noting that we perceive online shopping as not only convenient and more comfortable, but also safe and uncomplicated in most cases. The study also showed that the most popular products we buy are: clothing, electronics / household appliances, books, CDs, footwear, computer equipment and mobile devices such as telephones, smartphones and tablets. When looking for these products, online buyers primarily use the websites of online stores, search engines and websites on which they made a specific purchase.

In addition to lower prices, in the opinion of online buyers, the main motivation for this form of shopping is, for example, 24/7 access, no need to be physically present in the store or the ease of comparing various offers available on the market. Lower product costs, special price offers or lower delivery costs for purchased goods are the main factors that, according to online shoppers, encourage them to this form of shopping. The credibility of the place where online purchases are made is also an important element. It is primarily built on the opinions of other e-shoppers.

China is the market leader in cheap online shopping

Shopping via the Internet has one more significant advantage, you can buy wherever you want, i.e. in practice all over the world. Apart from changing the way people communicate, the network has completely blurred the notion of national borders. From this perspective, looking for places on the basis of "buy cheap" is for many people a way to get the desired thing. Against this background, the Chinese market dominates, which has long enjoyed the reputation of cheap products, but the quality was a bit worse. These times are gone forever, products from China are of better and better quality, and the fact that we buy directly in that market is conducive to taking advantage of low prices. That is why Poles are increasingly turning their eyes to the Chinese e-commerce market, changing their shopping habits at the same time.

The structure of online commerce in China is somewhat similar to ours. And there are B2C websites similar to our native Allegro. An example would be AliExpress.com, launched in 2010. It belongs to one of the largest online sales platforms in the world and is part of the Alibaba trading group, managing several smaller websites, incl. Chinese Yahoo. E-commerce stores in China offer almost everything from clothes, electronics, home furnishings and cosmetics, to sports accessories. The strength of these websites is the exceptionally attractive prices of products due to the fact that the goods are made in China. The prices are not increased by the costs incurred by the importing companies. Secondly, bidders do not own a physical store and only sell via the Internet, hence the prices do not include the additional cost of renting offices or warehouse. Often, buyers can make a really good deal by buying discounted products or those that are on sale. At that time, shops from China offer quite good additional discounts, in addition to those already in force on the website. No wonder that Internet users are changing their shopping habits and are becoming more and more interested in e-shops.

Cheap shipping - a strong point of online Chinese

Shipping costs from China are generally low, so items that cost around $ 1 USD will be shipped for no more than their retail price. Importantly, the first option offered is free delivery, and shipping costs are already included in the product price. The disadvantage of such a solution is the very long waiting time for delivery, usually by sea, hence it takes up to one and a half months or longer. We can always use courier delivery, e.g. DHL, but this is often a dispute, which can only be profitable when delivering goods in large, wholesale quantities.

Shopping habits of Internet users - examples of e-shops

We already know what Poles' shopping habits look like and what role the Chinese e-commerce market plays in them. Which stores do we visit most often?

Aliexpress.com is a shopping service very well known in Poland. Its advantage is the huge selection of product categories as well as suppliers. The website can be successfully compared to our native Allegro.pl website and the comparison will be justified. Its disadvantage is the very long delivery time. Aliexpress.com is to popularize the shopping in the market in China. Until a few years ago, it was the only possibility to import goods from that country. Today, Aliexpress.com has taken on a completely new dimension, becoming the de facto leading transactional service.

Light in the Box is a modern service that allows you to quickly shop in China. Its advantage is the website in Polish. The website was founded in 2007, offers customers an easy way to buy a wide range of products at very attractive prices through www.lightinthebox.com or www.miniinthebox.com and other websites. Light in the Box offers products in three main categories: clothing, small accessories and gadgets, and home and garden. The innovative business model is based on data processing, it enables us to offer products tailored to the individual needs and expectations of the client.

Since our shopping habits are changing, using the Chinese market for individual or wholesale purchases is an interesting alternative to the domestic e-commerce market. Poles often turn to foreign e-markets in search of goods that are simply more expensive on our home market. The problem may be the time to collect the order, counted in months, but often the low purchase costs can be relatively "something for something". Sometimes it might be worth a try.