How Polish Consumers Influence Convenience

Insights from Nielsen highlight how small-format retailers in Poland can better deliver a fast and easy shopping experience.

June 05, 2018

WARSAW, Poland – The NACS Convenience Summit Europe kicked off this week in Poland’s capital city, giving attendees unique insights into a country that is experiencing strong economic growth, low unemployment and a highly competitive retail market.

The journey began on Sunday evening with an exploration of Poland and Eastern Europe’s retail market. Pedro Manosalva, senior vice president of retailer vertical growth markets at Nielsen, explained how the convenience market is striving to meet the needs of today’s consumers, and challenged attendees to shift their mindset beyond the pure definition of convenience and focus on the shopper. “Convenience is not just about specific opportunities,” said Manosalva. “Every country addresses the same needs, but they are expressed differently.”

Consumer demographics are changing and creating even more opportunities for convenience retailers to meet shopper needs, said Manosalva, noting that small store formats are responding. In the Polish and Eastern European retail market, small-format locations are trending and fast-growing, with a 45% market share compared to 51% for large formats. In Poland especially, large formats combined with discounters represent a near-even split (51%) versus small formats (49%). In total, there’s 99,211 small-format stores in Poland, or 25 stores for every 1,000 people, serving an average of 400 customers per day.

Urbanization and changes in consumers’ lifestyles are having an impact on how small-format locations meet shopper needs. Manosalva explained that Polish consumers today work about 50 hours a week and have long daily commutes, at least one hour to and from home, and walk about 1.4 kilometers a day. More women are working (45% of workforce), and the average household size is slowly decreasing. Longer hours and commutes, he said, are putting even more pressure on families to find quick and easy meal solutions.

“Convenience is not a store format, it’s a consumer need,” Manosalva said, highlighting a hierarchy of how retailers can define those needs: easy and fast, a smarter experience and personalization. Speed of service is highly valued, with consumers taking just one minute to find four to five items to purchase, and more than half of consumers don’t want to spend more than three minutes at checkout. In Poland, 71% of consumers on foot will spend less than 10 minutes to find a location for purchasing food.

Manosalva explained that Polish consumers are looking for three key factors when determining where to shop: value, or the best bang for their buck; convenient and efficient services; and a shopping experience. He noted that technology can play an important role in meeting shopper needs for a fast and easy experience, such as self-checkout and fully automated stores.

Polish consumers also are embracing snacking occasions as meal replacements, with 71% of consumers snacking between meals, and snacking as a breakfast alternative (48%). Health also is a priority, with snacks that are natural, high in fiber, and free from GMOs and artificial colors appealing to more health-conscious consumers. Popular snacking options include ready-to-drink yogurts, prepared sandwiches, grab-and-go vegetables, pre-cut fresh fruit and healthy beverages. 

In terms of personalization, Manosalva said that there is no single answer—it all depends on the shopper mission and shopper segment. For example, the older generation knows what they want and to find products quickly. But with millennials, packaging greatly influences their purchasing decisions. Most shoppers of this generation (70%) say they have tried a new product because the packaging caught their attention through appealing design, functionality or sustainability.

Manosalva said that the need for convenience among Polish consumers is growing, which is driving consumption of products and services that can resolve a consumer’s daily struggles with time, especially on long commutes. More categories, product assortment, technology solutions such as mobile pay and loyalty schemes will help deliver a fast and convenient shopping experience.

The NACS Convenience Summit Europe is taking place this week in Warsaw and London. Stay tuned to NACS Daily for more on European shopper trends and insights.

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