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The latest report from Inquiry “Grocery Shopping 2025” shows that when buying groceries, we are increasingly willing to use solutions that provide us with convenience and savings. Self-service checkouts and – rather associated with other product categories – mobile applications and loyalty programs, are already an everyday reality for the vast majority of Poles when doing their grocery shopping. From a retailer’s point of view, these solutions are therefore essential to succeed in the market.
Dominance of discount stores and self-service checkouts
According to Inquiry’s report “Grocery Shopping 2025”, 81% of Poles do their grocery shopping at a discount store at least once a week (including 20% daily or almost daily). Stores of this type are the absolute leaders, and this is true regardless of the age of the respondents – supermarkets (63% of consumers do their grocery shopping there at least once a week), hypermarkets (62%), or specialty stores (bakeries, meat stores, vegetable stores) are much less popular. And online shopping? It’s still in the minority – e-grocery remains niche, although there is a noticeable gentle increase in interest in online food delivery platforms.
As the report’s data shows, 85% of Poles have used a self-service checkout at least once, a year-on-year increase of 3%. Among them, as many as 70% do so at least once a week, and one in five (20%) say they use self-service checkouts daily or almost daily. Polish consumers value in them:
- convenience and security of payment (83%, decrease y/y by 2%);
- convenience of shopping (81%, no change y/y);
- easy operation (78%, decrease y/y by 2%);
- clear and understandable messages on the display (78%, decrease y/y by 1%).
On the other hand, the worst rated is the correctness of self-service checkouts and their reliability (54%, decrease y/y by 3%) – which could be important information for retailers investing in the development of self-service infrastructure.
An increasing number of unmanned stores, i.e. fully automated outlets with neither cashiers nor traditional cash registers, are also appearing in Poland. Although 63% of Poles have heard of them, only 15% have experience of visiting such a store. Younger consumers (up to 44 years of age) were most likely to have heard of unmanned stores. The older the age group, the lower the percentage of people who know about such outlets.
This is, of course, reflected in the percentage of people using unmanned stores in different age groups – for 18-24 year olds it is a quarter (25%), while for the 55+ age group it is only 9%. Thus, this is a format worth developing especially in locations with a lot of young consumers. As for the gender breakdown, it is as follows – 18% of men and 12% of women have ever used it, while 68% of men and 59% of women have heard it.
High popularity of loyalty programs
The vast majority of Polish consumers use loyalty programs. 81% of respondents admit that they participate or have participated in at least one such program in the past (a slight decrease y/y – in 2023 the percentage was 82%). Among those who use loyalty programs, 76% use cards or apps that provide discounts (up 1% y/y), and 54% collect points for purchases made (down 1% y/y).
Four in ten consumers (40%) participate in sticker marketing campaigns (down 2% y/y). Twenty-three percent of respondents belong to a club that gives permanent access to special offers (also down 2% y/y), while 22% of Poles participate in a cashback program – this category has the largest y/y decline of 4%. Slight increases – by 1% – were recorded in participation in tasks and games (e.g., quiz solution, company referral) and the “Other” category.
Loyalty programs are more often used by women than men (84% vs. 79%). The number of the former has grown relative to 2023, while the number of men has declined. As for age groups, the youngest consumers (18-24) are the group that approaches loyalty with the greatest detachment, which could be an opportunity for brands looking for innovative forms of engagement for Generation Z. In other age groups, participation in loyalty programs ranges from 80% to 85%.
It’s also worth noting that retailers’ mobile apps are highly valued by consumers. Their usefulness goes beyond being an add-on – they are becoming a key part of the shopping path. They are used not only to collect points or use coupons, but also to plan purchases and follow promotions. For many consumers, they are the primary source of knowledge about the store’s offerings.
The survey for the “Grocery Shopping 2025” report was conducted on a nationwide sample of more than 2,000 respondents in October 2024. The key results were compared with data from the previous edition, conducted in 2023. You can also learn from the publication, among other things, about the most important grocery shopping trends of Poles.
