The new fashion among online shoppers. “It has many advantages”

Many of us associate online shopping with purchasing goods from online stores located in distant places, e.g. at the other end of Poland or even in another country. However, this is not the only possibility. However, often the e-store can be located nearby, even on the other side of the street.

Online shopping “neighborly” is becoming more and more popular

According to a study commissioned by TrustMate.i, such local e-commerce is getting better and better in Poland. More and more Poles order products online, but pick them up near their place of residence. This new fashion, which supports local e-shops, is part of a trend called phygital in the industry (a combination of two English words: physical and digital). This trend is part of popular e-commerce phenomena that have become very popular, especially in the last few years, especially during the pandemic, e.g. BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup In-Store – buying online with your own pickup), ROPIS (Reserve Online, Pickup In-Store – reserving goods online and picking them up in the store), as well as BORIS (Buy Online, Return In-Store, i.e. choosing an e-store that will allow you to return the goods at a nearby branch).

– Local e-commerce has many advantages, starting with the fact that we can pick up the ordered goods very quickly at a point near us. Thanks to this, we do not have to wait 1-2 days for the shipment, but we can enjoy the purchased goods on the same day. We also save on shipping fees. Additionally, if you return purchased items, we can deliver them ourselves to the nearby store where we bought them. Which saves you money on return shipping. He also receives a refund for his purchases immediately, without having to wait several days – comments Jerzy Krawczyk, president of the management board of Trustmate.io.

Krawczyk also points out that by making this type of purchases, we support local businesses that employ, among others, people living in our housing estate or district.

Distance matters

The study shows that Poles look for local businesses several times a week (18%). What are we looking for most often? Mainly nearby restaurants and hotels (40.57%). The next places were taken by clothing and textile stores (29.01%) and electronics and household appliances (27.48%). The reason why we choose a local company is usually the attractive price (70.4%), but also positive customer opinions (64%) and close proximity to the place of residence (45.28%).

The report was prepared on the basis of research conducted on behalf of TrustMate.io by the research company UCE Research, on a representative sample of 1,006 Poles, in the period October 17-18, 2024, using the CAWI method.