Sell on Allegro: expand into the Polish online market
eBay, Amazon or Alibaba are the giants of online retail. However, there are also rising stars: marketplaces that are becoming big players around the world, e.g. the Polish Allegro, the French Cdiscount or the Dutch bol.com. On such marketplaces it may be much easier for international sellers to stand out as and sell products online successfully: there’s less competition than on giant ecommerce platforms.
This article is about Allegro, one of the leading marketplaces in Poland and the fourth largest online marketplace in Europe. Allegro is open for international sellers and provides an alternative to competitive global marketplaces.
Learn about Allegro’s marketplace basics, data and (international) sales opportunities.</strong
New ecommerce trend: strong local presence of global online sellers
A large number of Europeans prefer shopping from local online marketplaces. Amazon, eBay and AliExpress may still be at the forefront, however there’s plenty of local marketplaces that attract millions of monthly visits, such as Allegro, bol.com or Cdiscount.
Local marketplaces tend to offer less competition and they often allow cross-border sales & purchases. As a result, many sellers may find it easier to set a firm foot on alternative channels to Amazon or eBay, especially when some product categories are competitive and saturated.
According to Adrien Salvat, Commercial Director at Webinterpret, on many local marketplaces, organic search results are still a major source of sales for many sellers. Compared to eBay or Amazon that tend to be flooded by sponsored products or ads, the cost of sales on local marketplaces is likely to be lower than on mainstream global ecommerce platforms.
Further, local marketplaces tend to have smaller inventories than the big names. Popular items are easily available on those sites but the long tail (unique or hard-to-find) items may be missing or have a limited availability. As a result, international sellers are usually welcome to fill the gaps on such marketplaces.
In the post-coronavirus ecommerce world, exploring additional marketplaces provides sellers with extra opportunities to meet increased online product demand in additional markets. It can also help merchants retain their overall sales capacity in the case of potential challenges.
Selling on Allegro marketplace
Allegro is a thriving Polish marketplace and one of the top ecommerce platforms in Eastern Europe. In Europe it’s the fourth largest online marketplace and is one of the leading technology-driven trading companies. Allegro is part of the Allegro Group. The brand also uses PayU (an online payment system).
Top 5 categories on Allegro include electronics, fashion, home, childcare and health. Allegro sellers can sell new, refurbished and used items. Branded products are in demand.
Allegro in numbers
- Over 21 million registered users and 17 million unique customers visiting every month
- 199.42 million visits on Allegro.pl in June 2019 (SimilarWeb)
- 80% of Internet users in Poland start shopping from Allegro
- Over 1.2 million products sold every day, of which over 90% are new items
- Over 125,000 merchants
- The biggest “shopping mall” in Poland with a significant market share in electronics (62%), home & garden (74%) and fashion (46%)
- Allegro Poland is a very profitable marketplace for sellers (sells around 90% of listed items at a fixed price).
- Allegro currently employs over 2200 people, nearly 50% of whom are top-class tech experts.
Reasons to sell on Allegro
- The most extensive & popular product search engine in Poland (IRCenter, 2020)
- Preferred ecommerce platform in Poland (according to 80% of respondents based on the report “Ecommerce in Poland 2019” conducted by Gemius)
- A wide variety of products
- No monthly subscription or listing fees (pay when you sell)
- Marketing & advertising support, dedicated support agents and dedicated seller Brand Zone
- Modern online financial services, such as 0% instalments, renewable instalments and leasing
- Innovation: Allegro is constantly upgrading its platform as per European retail and selling trends
- The marketplace is improving standards by promoting consumer rights and supporting the development of entrepreneurship.
Allegro & international ecommerce
Allegro is Europe’s 4th largest marketplace after Amazon, eBay and AliExpress. It’s the biggest marketplace of European origin. As Allegro is close to other Eastern Europe markets, it provides opportunities for growth in this region.
Allegro gives B2C brands and professional re-sellers the possibility to expand into Poland’s thriving online market. Poland is a country where online shopping and the retail market are booming. It’s ranked 13th (as per export.gov) among the fastest developing ecommerce markets in the world.
The regression of eBay over the last decade in the Polish market exemplifies how well-known global brands stand the risk of losing their top spots to local, stronger competitors.
An emerging online marketplace in Poland is AliExpress, probably because it sells certain exotic items, not available on Allegro. Still, in the past few years, Allegro has been the first choice for sellers and customers in Poland, but it has also been a popular choice in the UK.
The number of online shoppers in Poland is predicted to rise by 21 million by 2022. The total turnover of ecommerce in Poland is increasing by a rate of 15% annually.
As Allegro operates only in Polish, product listings, titles and descriptions as well as customer support have to be translated & localized.
Watch the video below to check out how to register a business account on Allegro (European Economic Area).
Sell more on marketplaces in 2021 & beyond
According to Mark Ellis, listing on global marketplaces is a must in your international expansion strategy but if you want to realize your potential, listing with marketplaces like Allegro, CDiscount, Walmart and Bol.com is essential.
Webinterpret supports merchants selling on big, international ecommerce platforms, such as eBay and Amazon as well as more local marketplaces. Our marketplace offer is constantly expanding so if you want to grow your online sales, feel free to contact our sales experts. They will help you analyze your international sales potential and choose markets that will offer you the best possible return on investment.
Interested in selling on international marketplaces?
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