Polish companies from the furniture industry on the international Wayfair platform

The pandemic has shown that dynamic changes are taking place in e-commerce. New companies are entering the virtual market, and more and more consumers are choosing e-shopping. In a times of crisis caused by the pandemic, entrepreneurs are discovering the opportunities offered for foreign expansion by online sales. The constant growth of e-commerce has been recorded, by among others, Germany. Only in the third quarter of this year, indicators soared by 13.3 percent. Polish companies from the furniture industry have recognized the potential of our western neighbor.

Thanks to the support of the PAIH office in Frankfurt, seven Polish companies, incl. Mooi, Kratki, Heatq, Mybedsy and the Terma Group started selling on the Wayfair platform and thus, more Polish products are to be found on the virtual German market. We can see that e-commerce is becoming more and more important. Only in March and April of this year, online sales of furniture increased by 25 percent. It is worth noting that every fourth piece of furniture in Germany, comes from Poland - says Łukasz Chrabański, Manager of the PAIH Foreign Trade Office in Frankfurt.

Towards e-commerce

Changing from a traditional catalog presentation to a virtual version, is one of the ways to keep customers. This is exactly what Wayfair guarantees. It is an e-commerce platform that offers furniture, products for the home and decorative items. This dynamic e-tailer has over 18 million products in its database. Wayfair's product offer has been dynamically extended with the products of Polish suppliers.

The potential of the European market for Home & Decor products is estimated at almost USD 300 billion. Wayfair offers its partners access to the two largest domestic markets- the German and British markets, with a total value of over USD 130 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated the development of the online segment and strengthened the belief, that in order to be successful in the industry in the long term, producers or sellers should develop in this direction. The current market situation has further strengthened the partnership with our suppliers (over 12,000), of which 3,000 are located in Europe - explains Tomasz Kosobucki, Category Manager at Wayfair.

Entering the Wayfair platform with their products, is a debut for some Polish companies on the German market. It is also proof, that the furniture industry is increasingly looking for innovative solutions, that will support business and give it a chance for development.

- With most of the companies that have established relations with us thanks to PAIH, cooperation is at the initial stage, but some, such as Terma Products (UK) Ltd and Kratki.pl, use the potential of our platform from the very beginning - explains Tomasz Kosobucki from Wayfair.

The state of the furniture industry

The sector's potential and the development of the e-commerce market go hand in hand. The transformation of commerce towards online sales is a global trend, but it is especially noticeable in times of a pandemic.

In Germany, the total turnover of the furniture sector in 2019, amounted to EUR 34.95 billion, of which EUR 2.96 billion was for business purchases and EUR 31.99 billion for private purchases for the home. Compared to 2018, the furniture trade increased by 2.3%. Three-quarters of the turnover was generated by furniture stores. The remaining part - through stores not directly related to the industry. However, it is Important to note that 10 percent of the entire market was sold online.

The success of Polish companies shows that in the difficult times of a pandemic, the e-commerce industry may be the generator of growth. Despite limitations, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency continues to educate Polish exporters, e.g. through free webinars. Among other events , we have already held "How to enter the online market in Germany and Great Britain?" about the sale of products via the Internet. During that webinar, it was also possible to meet representatives of online platforms.

About Polish Investment and Trade Agency

The Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) is an advisory institution included in the Polish Development Fund Group (PFR). This is the first point of contact for exporters and investors. It operates both in Poland and through Foreign Trade Offices (ZBH) around the world. It strengthens the recognition of Polish brands on international markets, promotes native products and services as well as technological solutions made in Poland. The agency helps entrepreneurs to choose the their optimal expansion path abroad. It also supports the inflow of foreign direct investment to Poland and the implementation of Polish investment at home.