WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR THE E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY?

What COVID Taught Us

Not all industries suffered losses during the global pandemic, which kept millions of people locked in their homes for many months around the world. COVID-19 accelerated the shift to online shopping. The market responded almost immediately with an expanded offering and the rapid emergence of parcel locker networks. Today, over 77% of internet users choose e-commerce — according to the report "E-commerce in Poland 2022." The report has been published for ten years, but only recently recorded that online trade has significantly accelerated. As many as 75% of consumers make purchases not even on a computer but on a mobile phone! The growing popularity of m-commerce (m for mobile — smartphone) generates new needs and challenges — primarily new apps are needed to make shopping even easier and more accessible.

The Courier Era

162 million PLN — this is, according to the PWC study "Prospects for the Development of the E-commerce Market in Poland," the estimated value the Polish e-commerce market will reach within the next 5 years.

Shopping platforms and online stores are competing to find solutions that will further boost sales. As a result, new technologies and trends in e-commerce are emerging, and large logistics centers and warehouses are becoming increasingly important — because before goods reach the consumer, they must be stored somewhere. Consequently, the prestige and importance of courier work has grown. Today it is a very profitable occupation, especially in a company that truly cares about customer wellbeing and is committed to ensuring that orders arrive quickly.

Automation First, Omnichannel Second

In this industry, the most important thing is to have well-automated processes, as this allows companies to operate more efficiently. In e-commerce, this is closely tied to logistics. Automation ensures that as order volumes grow, merchants have no trouble handling them — ordered goods are continuously dispatched from warehouses, and thanks to multi-shift operations, large logistics centers run practically 24/7.

Omnichannel is a model that gained significantly during the pandemic. Consumers

have grown accustomed to moving freely between different sales channels — both online and offline. Many enjoy browsing products online and buying in-store, and vice versa — browsing offline and buying online. This is an increasingly popular way of shopping, and brick-and-mortar stores that have no online presence are losing customers.

People have less and less time and are reluctant to spend it wandering around shopping centers, so they increasingly make spontaneous purchases driven by ads that appear on their phones. Brand-specific apps are growing in popularity, offering discounts, easy returns, the combination of online and offline shopping, and customer location tracking — all designed to build the strongest possible customer loyalty.

A Downturn Is Coming

However, experts at Statista Digital Market Outlook predict that e-commerce revenues will decline due to challenges affecting every industry: inflation, recession, and supply chain disruptions. Supply chain problems are the single largest factor weakening the entire sector. Despite this, e-commerce will remain one of the most powerful industries on the market. Evidence of this is the growing number of inquiries for SBU (Small Business Units) and LML (Last Mile Logistics) warehouses — logistics facilities serving the final stage of delivery — as shown in the Colliers report "EXCEEding Borders Small Business Units & Last Mile Logistics Sector in CEE-15," covering an analysis of 15 Central and Eastern European countries. Poland is a key country here, as total supply of modern warehouse space at the end of the first quarter of 2022 exceeded 25 million sq m. The Polish industrial and logistics (I&L) market is the largest in the entire region!

Warehouses Needed Now

Growing demand for small urban warehouses and last-mile logistics facilities is a result of the dynamic development of the e-commerce sector. In 2021 alone, developers delivered approximately 3.1 million sq m of new space — the highest annual result in the history of the Polish I&L market. In the first quarter of 2022, the volume of new supply amounted to nearly 1.3 million sq m. Demand for logistics and industrial space is rising. In 2021, the warehouse market broke a gross demand record — a total of 7.5 million sq m was leased. In 2019, before the pandemic, this figure was 4.2 million sq m.

Workers Needed Yesterday

Maintaining small, medium, and large warehouse facilities requires reliable workers — forklift operators and warehouse staff. Flexibility in managing this process is essential — scaling the team up or down as needed, since the market is unpredictable and rapid responses to changes are necessary. This is precisely why it is so important to use the services offered by companies like Gremi Personal, which take a comprehensive approach to human resource management, offering clients full flexibility with minimal bureaucracy.

Benefit from Gremi Personal's Services

We specialize in workers recruited from Eastern Europe. We support them from the very beginning of their stay in Poland. We help them adapt to new conditions. We also run a special loyalty program, prepare holiday gifts, and organize events — and for the most talented children of our employees, we have a scholarship program. All of this means that workers trust us and enjoy working with us. The large number of companies we work with allows us to provide you with maximum flexibility. If the number of people needed in your warehouse decreases, we will find them new work elsewhere. We recognized long ago that the logistics market suffers from a shortage of men, particularly those with specialized qualifications. That is why at our own training center, where we run courses for the UDT certificate, classes for women are free of charge. The school has been operating for a year, and the first women have already started work, filling staffing gaps in this area. We recruit men from new markets, inviting them from Asian countries and South America.

Get to know our services better and let's start working together today! https://gremi-personal.com/uslugi/