Poland is aging, companies are looking for customers in Europe. Expansion is easier than ever today
The barrier to entry is broken by infrastructure and technology. Amazon reports that in 2024, Polish entrepreneurs sold on average approximately 70 products per minute (over 35 million per year), and the export value of Polish SMEs on the Amazon platform alone amounted to over PLN 5.1 billion. Throughout the EU, over 127,000 entrepreneurs sold 1.3 billion products worth more than EUR 15 billion. Polish brands are increasingly seeking support from giants such as Amazon, because they receive access to logistics facilities and fulfillment centers as part of the package. This shortens delivery times and simplifies scaling to other markets.
The Retoo company from Niepruszewo completed nearly 1.9 million orders in 2024, reaching almost PLN 100 million in turnover, including: via Amazon, and Wessper has sold approximately 3 million products and is today present in ten countries in Europe. “It would be difficult for us to reach customers in Madrid or Berlin on our own,” says Mateusz Kacprzak from Retoo in one of the messages. “In 2024, we sold about 3 million products on Amazon. Thanks to the marketplace, we are present in ten countries in Europe and reach customers that we – as a store from Poland – would not be able to reach,” adds Marcin Sudol from Wessper.
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Polish companies are entering Amazon
Most often, the first choice is Amazon.de, because that's it the largest e-commerce market in the EU and geographically, linguistically and fiscally closest to many Polish categories. The UK tempts with a high-value basket, but requires separate logistics and taxes after Brexit, while the USA is Amazon's largest market, but also has the highest competition and different product standards.
Before we choose a specific country, it is worth confirming the demand, seasonality and frequency of searches by customers for phrases in the Product Opportunity Explorer tooland compare prices and margins in your niche. You need to register your mark with EUIPO and join the Brand Registry to unlock the tools (A+ Content, Brand Store, Brand Analytics) and brand protection on the platform. The startup content that increases sales the fastest is a polished Storefront, A+ cards with clear “benefit language” and short product videos.
Joanna Kwiatkowska, co-founder and director. sales at Kubota SA, a fashion brand known mainly for its iconic flip-flops, tells Business Insider that in addition to the aspects mentioned above, no less important are content readiness to create attractive materials for Storefront and A+ Content and A+ Premium (e.g. lifestyle photos, videos or infographics using the language of benefits regarding product functionality) and the budget for paid advertising and the Vine program. – The last, but not least, important issue that should be analyzed is the level of legal and accounting readiness to handle cross-border sales – emphasizes the expert.
He also adds that there is no universal recipe for what increases sales the fastest, but a quite effective combination is: an attractive price point, good packshots, titles designed for searchability, interesting product cards and running advertising campaigns with constant keyword analysis. — The hardest thing to obtain is the first opinions that build social proof in new markets for our, yet unknown, brand – notes Joanna Kwiatkowska.
Przemysław Kaczmarczyk, co-founder of Dromader Europe, a manufacturer of ergonomic baby carriers, argues that when starting sales on Amazon, it is best to choose a strategy of small steps, starting with a few products and one markete.g. German, due to the large number of potential customers and lower entry barriers than in the UK or USA. — It is important to register the brand for protection from the very beginning, and then choose products that solve a specific customer problem and have the greatest sales potential. You should create refined listings showing the most important features and how we can distinguish ourselves from the competition. By using infographics, extensive A+ Content and videos, we increase the attractiveness of the offer and ultimately it may have a positive impact on sales – he explains to Business Insider.
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Where is the margin lost and how to get it back
Profitability on Amazon is “down to the art”. What does this mean? Fixed costs include a sales commission (the so-called referral fee), and variable costs include the costs of order fulfillment (FBA/MCF or own), storage (others during peak seasons), possible returns and removal/repacking fees, as well as weight and size fee thresholds and package dimensions. Amazon publishes FBA rate tables in Europe and detailed size thresholds – it's good to test different packaging options because jumping to a lower threshold often means tens of thousands of zlotys more per year in our margin. In addition, of course, there is VAT (OSS/IOSS is helpful in the EU) and EPR obligations (packaging, WEEE, batteries), which are increasingly enforced on marketplaces.
— When calculating the profitability of each product, three cost items are most important, says Joanna Kwiatkowska. And he enumerates: – The first is order fulfillment – Amazon charges different amounts depending on the category and size of the product. The second item is storage and shipping costs to external warehouses from our warehouse. The cost of storage often varies depending on seasonal peaks. In logistic aspects, packaging optimization is also important – we design packaging in such a way that to fit into appropriately low weight thresholds and “not carry air”which in case of large sales results in thousands of euros savings per year. The third and most painful in almost every industry is returns, the rate of which varies depending on the platform, category and market. It is a big mistake to generalize the coefficient and assume that if the share of returns in our online store is low, it will be equally low in the marketplace. You need to perform a thorough analysis of the market and industry in a given market to assume the most realistic scenario.
Kubota uses, among others: from the Pan-European program, which automatically places products in Amazon's FBA warehouses. In practice, FBA wins in conversion thanks to Prime and fast delivery, and Pan-EU FBA automatically distributes inventory between countries and shortens the “last mile”.
What drives visibility and conversion at the giant? — Currently, the quality of the listing is the main driver of visibility and conversions, where a well-constructed title, presenting the USP of the product, instead of being overloaded with keywords, plays a key role. Bulleted lists should be arranged in a benefit/feature structure with an explanation, which, combined with high-quality images and videos, significantly increases click-through and conversion rates. So optimized listing supports PPC campaigns much more effectively because the algorithm better understands the product and directs it to the right audienceand tools such as Brand Analytics allow you to monitor the brand's position in a given category – suggests Przemysław Kaczmarczyk.
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Risk, account health and portfolio scaling
Scaling on Amazon happens when the product, logistics and account health are stable. You need to keep an eye on Account Health, fulfillment rates, customer responses and order defect rates.
– The most important thing is the so-called account health, which we measure with an indicator of over two hundred points – we achieve this through timely shipment, quick response to customer questions and proactive resolution of complaints before they turn into negative opinions. Brand Registry and brand protection allow us to report fake products and unauthorized sellers who offer our products without our consent (we do not have B2B distributors, so it is easy to track down dishonest merchants) – Joanna Kwiatkowska from Kubota SA tells Business Insider
— Systematic monitoring of Account Health is key in risk management and scaling… I would wait to expand my portfolio until several products have stable demand and a good margin, advises Przemysław Kaczmarczyk.
Amazon also provides two selling options: Vendor and Seller. Just to clarify. Vendor means that we sell wholesale to Amazon Retail, which becomes the seller visible to the customer, sets prices and trading conditions, and we process purchase orders in Vendor Central. Seller means that we sell directly to customers on the marketplace, we set prices and control listings ourselves, we choose the implementation model (FBA/FBM), and the results depend on the optimization of the offer and the condition of the account.
Which is better? If we have captured all costs, including personnel costs of sales support, and we can calculate the real margin, we need to write down all the pros and cons and make a decision. – As Kubota, we are currently sticking to the Seller model, which gives us full control over prices, margins and image – says the expert.
— Thanks to advanced automation, sellers using the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service can offer faster and reliable delivery, and themselves can delegate to Amazon the following: collection, storage, packaging and delivery of products, as well as customer and returns service – emphasizes Katarzyna Ciechanowska-Ciosk from Amazon.pl. In turn, Karolina Opielewicz, member of the management board of the National Chamber of Commerce, notes that technology and appropriately adapted logistic infrastructure make it possible for an entrepreneur from a small town in Poland to effectively serve customers in Germany or France.
What else to remember when planning e-export
Formalities are essential. Registration of the mark at EUIPO and inclusion in the Brand Registry will facilitate IP protection and streamline access to sales tools. Secondly: taxes and compliance. B2C sales in the EU simplify VAT OSS/IOSS, but storing goods in different countries triggers local VAT obligations. In addition, EPR requirements are increasing – from packaging to batteries – which Amazon is increasingly enforcing automatically. Third, social evidence. The Amazon Vine program helps you get your first reviews fasterwhich has a huge impact on conversion in new markets.
The aging society in Poland and the difference in purchasing power support expansion into European markets. The EU single market has 450 million consumers, and Amazon, as a global giant, shortens the path to them by providing ready-made infrastructure, logistics and marketing and analytical tools.
Importantly, this path is not reserved for large players from large cities – the examples of Retoo and Wessper show that systematicity, refined listings and wisely calculated margin work regardless of the zip code. If you add a well-planned market entry (DE/UK/US), consistent unit economics measurement, Pan-EU FBA where applicable, and control of the account and IP condition, expansion is no longer a risk. It then becomes a natural, repeatable process of scaling revenues. And that's exactly this type of growth that companies need more and more clearly in aging Poland.
Author: Grzegorz Kubera, journalist of Business Insider Polska
