WARSAW, Poland – Through store tours, interactive sessions and networking, attendees at this week’s NACS Convenience Summit Europe explored how convenience and small retail formats in Poland are meeting shopper needs, priorities and retail trends. Adding even more insights into this growing retail market was Charles Whitehead, head of client services for HIM, in the “Tell Me More About the Eastern European Consumer” session.

Whitehead posed several questions to the group, including:

• What are the global and European retail trends, and what do they mean for convenience?
• Are consumers’ priorities changing?
• Are young people retuning to Poland, and how are they changing convenience retail?

In terms of global retail trends, ecommerce sales worldwide have doubled since 2014 with no signs of slowing. In 2017, global ecommerce sales globally were $2.3 trillion, with an estimated 19% of all ecommerce retail sales coming from China, said Whitehead. The Asia Pacific region is the fastest growing region in terms of consumer spending on eating out, with an average annual growth of 7.5% predicted for 2017–2026. Little and often, or top-up, shopping continues to rise across the globe, and this trend is expected to continue among aging populations and single households. In fact, Whitehead said that 87% of Polish consumers say they’ve done a top-up shop within the last seven days.

“We can be optimistic about European retail performance,” said Whitehead, noting that three unique situations are occurring: low unemployment, greater household spending and stable consumer confidence.

For now, the Polish convenience market is not affected by Sunday trading laws, which require large retail formats to close two Sundays of every month. However, as the regulations expand to other retail formats by 2022, this certainly is an issue that affects retailers in Poland and across Europe.

The answer to Whitehead’s second question on whether consumer priorities are changing is yes—thanks to three retail trends that are important to European shoppers: 

• Globally, “Sustainability is moving higher and higher on consumers’ agendas, and doing nothing as a business is no longer an option,” said Whitehead, adding that more consumers are demonstrating awareness and concern about environmental, ethical and social issues. Plastic has become “enemy No. 1” across the globe, he said. In Poland specifically, 66% of consumers prefer to drink water from a reusable container, which will have an impact on single-serve bottled water and soft drink sales. Food waste is another priority across Europe that various governments are addressing through regulations and fines. 
• Today’s consumers demand uncompromising transparency, said Whitehead, noting that 78% of consumers believe it is important for companies to stand up for social issues, and 89% believe it is important for brands to be authentic. And the ubiquity of social media is enabling this change, offering a crowdsourcing platform for immediate conversation, especially when consumers are confused. In Poland, 60% of consumers agree that social media is forcing food and drink companies to be more transparent, and shoppers will not interact with a brand that they don’t trust.
• The rise in technology continues globally, perhaps best noted by the fact that nearly all millennials admit to looking at their smartphones within the first 15 minutes of waking up. However, there are issues that can have a negative impact on brands, such as data security and concerns about how companies use and store personal shopper information.

Lastly, Whitehead addressed the Polish market from a demographics lens, noting that younger people are returning to the country and subsequently the workforce, particularly in the service and technology industries. In the past year, thousands of 20- to 29-year-olds have returned to Polish cities since the Brexit vote. Shopper missions are evolving because of these returning residents and new workforce participants. “They’re increasing the repertoire of stores they’ll visit across key convenience missions,” he said, noting that bakery and fresh foods are important categories, along with growth in “meal for tonight” missions.

After visiting a number of store formats in Warsaw, NACS Convenience Summit Europe attendees traveled to the main conference, which kicks off today in London. Stay tuned to the NACS Daily for more event coverage, including the winners of this year’s NACS European Convenience Retail Awards.