Poland's Smartphone Market in 2018: 64% Own Smartphones

POLAND.  
IS.MOBI
Current data on smartphonisation in Poland.  
Review of the statistics of Polish mobile apps and websites. 
Trends in banking, payments, m-commerce and mobile advertising.
Experts' opinions.
EDITION OF  
THE REPORT4
2018
Publisher Content Partner Financial PartnersAuthor
Th

ORIGINATOR OF THE REPORT
Monika  
Mikowska
April 2018
Good morning, hello!
„If everything is mobile, then nothing is
mobile any more.” – this sentence very aptly
describes the reality in which we function
here in Poland, as well. The mobility of the
solutions that we use every day has become
as obvious and natural as breathing.
When we published the ﬁrst edition of this
report in 2012, we were educating the
society that smartphones were not just for
calling and texting, and that those things
called ‘mobile apps’ could be downloaded
onto them. Today, not even a full 6 years
later, at the time of the fourth edition of this
report, smartphones have already replaced
computers in performance of many tasks  
for a third of Poles.
However, it turns out that not in all segments  
of the market, the solutions offered there  
are ready to meet the expectations of their
users. The business world appears to have
realised the potential of its customers in the
mobile channel too late. Therefore,
companies still have a lot to do in order  
to live up to the expectations...
As usual, the report is comprised of three
sections:
1. Current data on smartphonisation in Poland  
in a section prepared in collaboration with  
Kantar TNS.
2. Review of the statistics of the mobile solutions
of several dozen Polish companies, which one
must be familiar with to realise the potential of  
the Polish market and the scale that can presently
be achieved on it.
3. State of mobile trends in Poland based  
upon a review of the opinions of experts from  
the world of mobile banking, mobile payments,
m-commerce, mobile advertising and mobile
operators.
Dear Reader, thank you so much for downloading
this report. Feel free to read it, browse and gather
inspirations. We have compressed the information
that was the most popular and the most sought-
after in previous editions of this report on fewer
pages – for your convenience! I am certain that
their implementation will make us even more
mobi. Have a nice read!
2

Opinions on the trends 
on the Polish
market
Smartphonisation
in Poland 
in 2018
Statistics of  
the mobile solutions 
of Polish companies
2904 21

Smartphonisation  
in Poland 
in 2018
Section prepared 
in collaboration with KANTAR TNS

Number of smartphones
and tablets in Poland
The number of Poles who own smartphones has
remained similar for 2 years, with a small growth
trend – from 62% (2016) to 64% (2017).  
 
Compared with the previous year, the number of Poles
declaring to have a tablet in their household has
decreased from 23% to 13%.
Although since 2016, we have not observed such  
a dynamic increase in smartphone penetration as  
in the previous years, the intensity of use of the mobile
channel has been growing perceptibly.
A smartphone is used as a ‘portable’ computer that  
can already take care of any business or even replace  
a ‘traditional’ computer for us.
The most popular mobile apps continue to extend their
coverage, but a trend of mobile content consumers
migrating from apps to mobile browsers is also
noticeable.
64% x 32.7 million (Poles aged 15+) = approx. 20.93 million smartphones
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
25
31
47
57
62
64
9
19
43
53
58
61
declared (%) parameters (%)
Smartphone penetration in Poland (overview). Sources: TNS Polska's own research. May 2015. Mobile Life 2012, N=502; Mobile Life 2013, N=915, Omnibus – cyclical survey conducted twice a month on N=1000, Connected Life 2014, N=979;  
sample – Poles, Omnibus 2016–2017 – cyclical survey using the f2f method, Kartezjusz 2016–2017 – cyclical survey using the CATI method.
5
13% x 32.7 million (Poles aged 15+) = approx. 4.25 million tablets

Poles spend more time
on mobile devices
compared with previous years
The percentage share of smartphones and
tablets in the time spent on devices connected
to the Internet is increasing – presently,  
this is 46% as compared with 43% in the
previous year.
48% of Poles declare that they use mobile
devices for over 2 hours per day. The average
time spent on them is 2.3 hours, which constitutes
an increase in comparison with the previous year
(1.8 hours then).
When asked about their typical online day,  
Poles have indicated that they generally spend
slightly less time on a tablet and smartphone  
than on a computer (taking into consideration
activities unrelated to professional work).
56%
7%
36%
2016 r.
54%
6%
40%
2017 r.
Percentage share of various devices in the time spent online
during a day
Source: Connected Life 2017–18, N=1000, Internet users
tablet
mobile
PC
6

MULTI-DEVICE PC
CENTRIC
BORDERLINEMULTI-DEVICE MOBILE CENTRICMOBILE ONLY
More and more regions of the world are
becoming mobile-centric by the year
% of time spent using a smartphone, tablet and PC
PCSmartphone Tablet Countries that were PC-centric in the previous year
Myanmar
Indonesia
Thailand
Kenya
Nigeria
Cambodia
Ghana
SouthAfrica
India
Philippines
SriLanka
Mongolia
Vietnam
Turkey
SaudiArabia
UAE
Romania
Chile
Argentina
Serbia
Israel
Sweden
Bulgaria
Mexico
HongKong
Malaysia
SouthKorea
China
Brazil
Colombia
Greece
Singapore
Taiwan
NewZealand
Ireland
Luxembourg
Spain
Italy
Norway
Denmark
USA
Hungary
Poland
Slovakia
CzechRepublic
Canada
Netherlands
UK
Australia
Ukraine
Germany
Russia
France
Belgium
Finland
Japan
7 Source: Connected Life 2017–18, N=1000, Internet users

Poland is also approaching the mobile-centric
group, which it will join in... 2018!
The developed countries do not
belong to the mobile-only countries
(those where the time spent on
smartphones exceeds 50%) group.  
The dominant percentage share of
smartphones in this case actually
indicates limited access to computers  
in mobile-only countries.
As the difference in favour of a PC is not
that significant (45.8% smartphones and
tablets; 54.16% PC), Poland has been
classified as borderline.
Nevertheless, we expect to be classified
as a multi-device mobile centric
country as early as in 2018.
MOBILE ONLY MULTI-DEVICE MOBILE  
CENTRIC
BORDERLINE MULTI-DEVICE PC
CENTRIC
Poland

We are getting more and more
devices and using them longer
and longer during a day
Poles declare that they own 3 devices connected  
to the Internet on average, which is higher than  
the average value for the entire world and for our region
(South-Eastern Europe). It may seem puzzling that  
in spite of having more devices, we are less active
online than other regions of the world (see the next
slide). This is due to the fact that a PC/laptop is still  
an important device in Poland, being less absorbing  
than mobile devices.
In comparison with 2016, the average number of
devices owned by Poles has decreased (from 3.4),
which results chieﬂy from the decreasing percentage
share of tablets.
World
Southern and Eastern  
Europe
Poland
Number  
of devices owned
2.7 2.8 3.0
72% 84% 96%
89% 80% 83%
37% 42% 41%
17% 10% 11%
35% 27% 25%
PC
(desktop + laptop)
Smartphone
Tablet
Wearables
“I usually use several
devices simultaneously
when I'm online”
% of time spent using a smartphone, tablet and PC

World
Southern and Eastern  
Europe
Poland
5.0 4.9 5.3
Number of hours
spent on using  
various devices
Percentage of time spent  
on various devices (%)
Percentage of time  
spent on various types  
of devices (%)
Compared with 2016, the amount of time  
spent by Poles on online activities unrelated  
to professional work has increased (from 4.8  
to 5.3 hours).
This increase results chieﬂy from more frequent
use of smartphones, which have increased their 
percentage share in online time from 36% to 40%.
However, it is worth remembering that in
comparison with the entire world, Poland still uses
PCs slightly more intensely than mobile devices.
An important trend which has been growing  
by the year is the greater percentage share  
of digital devices in comparison with traditional
devices in the entirety of leisure time.  
In the past year, we spent 57% of time using  
a PC, smartphone and tablet and only 43% using
traditional media, such as television, radio  
or press.
TabletSmartphone PC
We are getting more and more
devices and using them longer
and longer during a day
Percentage of time spent on various types of
devices – traditional media vs digital media
9
3754
9
49
42
6
54
40
64
36
60
40
57
43
Traditional (TV, radio, press)
Digital (PC, smartphone, tablet)

I don't want to pay for anything  
with my cell phone 47%
I think I use my cell phone too much 29%
I usually use one device  
at a time when I'm online 55%
I'd rather access all of the services  
of state-run institutions that I use offline,
e.g. via telephone or in person
20%
I want companies whose services  
I use to offer me offline customer
services, e.g. via telephone or in person
35%
What are our attitudes
toward social media  
and online brands? 23% I'd rather pay for everything  
with my cell phone
47%
I don't believe I use my cell phone  
too much
25%
I usually use multiple devices at a time
when I'm online
50%
I'd rather access all of the services  
of state-run institutions that I use online,  
e.g. via websites or apps
38%
I don't have an issue with using  
the services of companies which offer
them exclusively online
Technology alters how we act and how we
think about it. 29% of Poles believe that  
they use their smartphone too much.
We do not observe any specific actions
following that declaration, but it is worth
having in mind that users feel the need  
to optimise their time spent online and  
to organise it so that it satisfies their needs
and expectations. Any activities aimed  
at personalising users' experiences may
appeal to the very important growing need  
to use one's mobile time efficiently.
As many as 50% of Poles declare that  
they wish to have online access to the
services of state-run institutions.  
The development of public services in  
that direction appears to be inevitable.

Technology alters  
how we act and how 
we think about it
The major challenge for companies
which wish to estimate the level  
of adaptation of new technologies
among their target audience and the
actual added value that they could
introduce into their product range is
the level of trust (or lack thereof)
toward machines.
Poland 29% 53% 20%
29% 43% 25%
26% 53% 23%
 
Believe they use their  
cell phone too much
 
Are completely opposed
to the idea of activity-
monitoring devices
connected to the Internet,
even if they would make
life easier
 
Would rather access all  
the services of state-run
institutions that they use
offline, e.g. via
telephone or in person
People aged 16–24 are the most
concerned group (48% of it declare
so). In the near future, this will
result in new attitudes toward
mobile technologies.
This group must be made aware  
of the beneﬁts of their use and
explained actual risks to.
There already exist such areas  
of customer service that can be
fully automated nowadays.
World
Southern  
and Eastern Europe

-4
+2
-8
-6
-8
no data
-5
-4
-2
-3
-3
no data
-10
-10
-8
0
-4
-4
-10
-2
+3
-7
-2
-4
0
What are our most  
common activities online
during a week?
Activities performed during a week (%) Change  
vs 2016
During a week, Poles perform 11 types of online activities
on average. The most popular activities include:
1. E-mail correspondence 
2. Use of social media 
3. Reading of articles online 
4. Watching of free videos online  
5. Use of online banking
The group of people least active online use the Internet
chiefly to send e-mails and read articles. This is also the case
for people who use social media without interacting with
brands, although they watch free online videos slightly  
more frequently.
Groups active in social media watch videos there; they also
declare that they watch videos shared by brands and
celebrities more frequently, as well as upload their own
photographs, videos or music online. Activity in social  
media is tantamount to a greater need to actively display
one's life and passions.
E-mails
Social media
Reading articles online
Free online videos
Online banking
Searching for products that I might buy
Messaging, chatting on the Web
Social media videos
Reading blogs, forums
Videos shared by friends
TV / films (free)
Looking for and purchasing products online
Videos shared by informational media
Listening to the radio / music online
Playing smartphone / tablet games
Videos shared by celebrities
Posting photos, videos, music
Videos posted by a brand
Listening to / watching podcasts
Mobile payments
TV / films (streaming)
Playing games online or on a console
TV / films (VOD)
Using a voice-activated advisor
Writing blogs, articles 12
15
15
20
21
22
22
28
28
29
37
41
41
50
50
52
52
60
63
70
73
75
80
83
91

What devices do we most commonly use
for each online activity?
We still prefer to perform most online activities using a PC/laptop, but reading of messages and use of social media are dominated by mobile devices.  
As many as 25% of Poles declare that they usually receive and send e-mails using a smartphone.
Messages
E-mails
Posting Photos
Social media
Online articles
TV / films (streaming)
TV / films (VOD)
TV / films (free)
Free online videos
Social media videos
Online banking 2%
2%
3%
6%
8%
8%
3%
2%
3%
2%
2%
3%
4%
9%
13%
15%
3%
5%
6%
7%
8%
6%
6%
4%
5%
3%
4%
64%
52%
61%
67%
55%
58%
60%
46%
50%
70%
41%
31%
38%
26%
11%
16%
13%
31%
48%
42%
25%
53%
TabletSmartphone PC Smart TV Others

Social media and instant messengers used
in Poland and across the world
Over the past year, the percentage of people  
who use Facebook, YouTube and Instagram  
has increased.  
 
However, these increases are not as great  
as those in the instant messengers category,  
where Facebook Messenger has gained  
as many as 12 percentage points.
The decrease in the interest in using Skype,  
which has lost 13 percentage points, is also  
worth noting.
Used channels (apps) World
Southern
and Eastern
Europe
Poland
2017
Change  
vs 2016
Facebook 63% 66% 82% +4%
YouTube 58% 70% 79% +6%
Instagram 33% 37% 28% +3%
Snapchat 18% 12% 16% -2%
Twitter 26% 20% 11% -6%
Wykop.pl – – 9% -6%
Pinterest 16% 9% 9% no data
Facebook Messenger 46% 47% 66% +12%
WhatsApp 50% 53% 24% +3%
Skype 19% 23% 20% -13%
Gadu Gadu – – 12% -5%
Google Hangouts (Google Talk) 4% 7% 8% -2%
Viber 14% 21% 7% -3%
Kik Messenger 1% 0% 6% no data
Yahoo! Messenger 18% 8% 6% no data

Although e-commerce has been developing  
in Poland for years, it is only now that it is
growing stronger.
Interestingly, there is a higher percentage
of people open to the ‘online only’ model  
of customer support in our country than
there is among the inhabitants of Southern
and Eastern Europe, or even the entire
world.
On the other hand, our country has a markedly
lower percentage of people who would like  
to pay for all products and services with their
smartphone.
Poland 23% 31% 38%
39% 39% 33%
28% 29% 33%
 
Would like to pay for
everything via mobile
 
Have no issues with  
a bot being used  
in customer service
 
Are open to the ‘online
only’ model of customer
service
Understanding how a consumer
wishes to pay will enable
optimisation of their experience  
with the online shopping process.
However, brands need to
understand at which point bots
are helpful and at which point
they may annoy a customer.
Understanding of a customer's
expectations, the speciﬁc nature
of the channels through which
they can be reached, and what
to talk about, is essential for
building a positive experience
for them.
World
Southern and
Eastern Europe
m-commerce
in Poland

40% of Poles have made a purchase online within
3 months in the following categories:
Clothing 31%
Electronics 27%
Books, musical articles 18%
Cosmetics, perfumes 18%
House fittings 15%
Children’s products 14%
Automotive accessories 14%
Sports and tourist accessories 10%
Groceries 8%
Analysing the shopping behaviours of Poles, we can see that 40%  
of people make at least one online purchase every 3 months.
We usually select such categories as clothing, electronics, books  
and music, as well as cosmetics and perfumes.
The fourth quarter of the year and the Christmas season are extremely
important to the e-commerce industry, which is also conﬁrmed by
Kantar TNS's survey. As many as 41% of Poles declare to have made  
an online purchase during that time, one week prior to the survey.  
For comparison, this value oscillates between 20% and 25% for the
previous quarters.
On the following page, we analyse the shopping process broken down
into stages, on various devices. There are already as many as 31%  
of Poles who shop via smartphones online, and there are 23%  
of those who shop exclusively via mobile (steps 1 through 4).
22% of the purchasers opt to undergo the entire shopping process,
including ﬁnalisation of the transaction with a payment, using only
their smartphone, and 15% do it exclusively via mobile (steps 1
through 5).
m-commerce
in Poland

How various devices are used at different stages of the
shopping process1:
PC / laptop 67% 65% 67% 72% 59%
Smartphone / tablet 43% 45% 41% 32%
Smartphone 42% 43% 39% 31% 22%
Tablet 4% 4% 4% 3% 2%
All of the above 10% 8% 7% 4%
Inspiration
1
Search
2
Comparison
3
Purchase
4
Payment
5
1. Sample: Poles aged 18+ who own a smartphone and have purchased at least a single thing online within the past 3 months.
18 Source: mobile eCommerce, N=1000, CATI, nationwide sample
m-commerce
in Poland

m-commerce in financial
services in Poland
Nearly a half of the Polish Internet users who have
purchased any financial product within the past
year declare to have done it online.
Due to the unique nature of this category, a PC /
laptop still dominates the shopping process, but  
the simplification of the processes and creation  
of attractive apps may encourage purchase of
additional services using a smartphone.
Most people who have purchased financial services
offline are open to purchasing them online, but  
it will be necessary to overcome certain barriers.
Only 9% absolutely refuse the option to purchase
products from this category online.
43
9
What devices are used for online shopping?
Are the buyers open to online shopping?
52%
shop offline
48%
shop online
Potential buyers
Refusers
PC / laptop
Smartphone
Tablet
2
7
38

m-banking
in Poland
The number of people who use mobile
banking is increasing dynamically,
reaching the level of 34% of the
respondents in 2017. The intensity  
of contact with the service is also
increasing – as many as 19% of people
in the aforesaid group have declared
everyday use of mobile banking.
13% of Poles use their phones  
for contactless payments.
Another 10% of Poles declare  
to actively use the BLIK system.
There are already as many as 23%  
of Polish Internet users who shop
exclusively via mobile.
Use of mobile banking over time:
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
3
6
13
16
25
34
number of people who use mobile banking (%)
ZOOM Finance 2017 Q4 – frequency of use of mobile banking
2%5%2%3%13%24%33%19%
At least once a day
At least once a week
Several times a month
Once a month
Less frequently than once a month but more frequently than once every 3 months
Once every 3 months
Less frequently than once every 3 months
I don't remember / refuse to say
N = 516
13%
Use their phones for
contactless payments
10%
Use BLIK
23%
Shop exclusively
via mobile
Shopping habits of Poles:
20 Source: ZOOM Finance, cyclical tracking of the Polish financial market, CATI, nationwide sample

Statistics 
of the mobile solutions  
of Polish companies
banking e-commerce retail

TOP 10 mobile
apps in Poland
We cite a ranking prepared by Spicy Mobile to present the most
popular apps in Poland (not limited to Polish-made ones).
By comparing this list dated to the end of 2017 with the
analogous list of 2016, we can see that the same mobile apps
have reigned supreme on our phones for years. The most
popular mobile apps in Poland invariably include products
supported by Google and Facebook: YouTube, Messenger,
Facebook, Maps, Gmail, WhatsApp Messenger and Instagram.
Both this and the previous year, the list features two Polish
products: Allegro and OLX.pl – ogłoszenia lokalne. Their
coverage is also extending. Snapchat, featured in the 2016
ranking, dropped from the 2017 one, replaced by Rossmann PL.
On the following pages of the report, we present the statistics  
of the apps and mobile versions of the websites of several dozen
Polish companies that we have obtained from them and have  
had authorised by them directly.
Source: Spicy Mobile, Mobigate Report, October 201722
Top 10 mobile apps by their coverage
All users of Android telephones and tablets aged 15+
App Coverage
1 YouTube 66,53%
2 Messenger 43,22%
3 Facebook (+Facebook Lite) 39,17%
4 Google Maps 37,05%
5 Gmail 28,89%
6 OLX.pl – ogłoszenia lokalne 15,47%
7 Allegro 13,16%
8 WhatsApp Messenger 12,90%
9 Instagram 12,57%
10 Rossmann.pl 11,90%

23 * Condition at the end IV Q 2017.
The summary has been created on the basis  
of the statistics of the following companies

The summary has been created on the basis  
of the statistics of the following companies
24 * Condition at the end IV Q 2017.

Number of downloads  
of the mobile app1
% Android % iOS % WP
Number of active2
users of  
the mobile app (per month)
Number of active2
users of the mobile  
transactional website (per month)
YOY % change in  
the number of MAU3 Percentage of mobile-only users4
Alior Bank
177,100 (previous app) 
74,500 (new app)
78% 19% 3% 159,495 no data 124% 7%
Bank BGŻ
BNP Paribas
21,605
(data for 2017 only)
87% 17% – 82,000 – 230% 18%
Citi  
Handlowy
234,954
(since 2011)
64% 36% – 61,031 135,393 43% 13%
Credit  
Agricole
243,869 82% 16% 2% 74,165 – 61% 5% A
ING Bank 952,960 82% 17.5% 0.5% 867,443 1,461,624 – 25.9%
mBank 2,508,998 72% 19% 9% 1,058,011 466,414 B – 14%
Bank
Millennium
1,506,279 75% 23% 2% 469,000 351,000 55% 27%
Bank  
Pekao S.A.
1,652,200 74% 17% 9% 495,100 C 442,900 C 40% no data
PKO
Bank Polski
3,676,296
(since 2013)
81% 17% 2% 1,281,937 1,321,655 101% 18%
Plus Bank 28,183 90% 6% 4% 24,188 15,640 64.4% 21.2%
Raifeissen  
Polbank
379,957 76% 24% – 74,504 – 16.5% 10.6%
Bank Zachodni  
WBK
2,100,633  
(total since 2015 until Feb 2018)
51% 15% 1%
735,675  
(as of Feb 2018)
400,481  
(as of Dec 2017)
31% 11%
A. Number of users who use exclusively the CA24 Mobile app (without the mobile transactional website). 
B. Users who use their telephone to log into the transactional website lite or into the full version of the transactional website.
C. An active user is one who has logged into the app or transactional website at least once every 3 months.
1. Total for all OSs.
2. An active user is one who has logged into the app or transactional website at least once a month.
3. Comparison between the number of MAU as of the end of 2017 and the number of MAU as of the end of 2016.
4. % of Internet users who use exclusively the mobile app or mobile version of the website; monthly.
25
Banking

26
Additional statistics of selected banks
Credit  
Agricole
1,512,377 logins per month; 221,810 transactions per month; 2,108 investments per month
ING Bank Number of money transfers made from the mobile app: 11,088,385. Ratings of the most recent versions: iOS: 4.5*; Android: 4.2*
mBank Average number of logins into the app per month per customer: iOS – 24.3; Android – 21.1; Windows Phone – 14.8.
Bank
Millennium
A marked increase in the monthly total number of logins into the mobile app has been observed – from 6,553,198 at the end of 2016 to 10,873,018 at the end of 2017.
PKO
Bank Polski
The best app in Poland and in the world (according to Retail Banker International) – average rating of 4.7* in 3 app shops. 32 million mobile transactions in IKO in 2017.
Plus Bank Logins from mobile apps constitute 49.8% of all logins. Financial operations ordered in mobile apps constitute 16.3% of all operations.
Number of payment transactions performed in the mobile channel
Number of UU who use payment transactions
performed in the mobile channel
Volume of transactions in millions of PLN
% of all transactions % YOY increase online payments
withdrawals from
cash machines
POS transactions P2P payments
BLIK 1 100% 270% 22,000,000 8,000,000 1,800,000 1,600,000 6,100,000 4,500
1. Table presents the data for 2017.
Banking
Payments

of the mobile app1
% Android % iOS
% WP /
others
Number of active2 users of  
Monthly number of the UU of the 
mobile version of the website
YOY % change  
in the number of MAU
3
Percentage of mobile-only4 users
AVANTI
3,097
(app has been operating since Nov 2017)
81.55% 18.44% – 2,695 N/A N/A 27%
Jak Dojadę 4,520,000 83% 17% – 1,330,000 780,000 15% 64%
Listonic C 780,000 85% 13% 2% 200,000 8,000 5% approx. 90%
Yanosik 7,535,701
(as of the end of 2017)
84% 13% 3% approx. 1,500,000 223,000 5% 100%
of the mobile app1
% Android % iOS
% WP /
others
YOY % change  
of the number of MAU
3
Percentage of mobile-only4 users
Allegro over 7,000,000 78.24% 19.54% 2.22%
1,750,000 logged-in app users
approx. 2,700,000 logged-in RWD users
20,130,000 
(in Dec 2017)
30%
approx. 19.3% 
(in Dec 2017)
Answear 100,000 51.39% 48.61% – 58,636
1,130,976  
(in Dec 2017)
61.70% A 32.2% 
(in Dec 2017)
Blix 3,416,789 92% 7% 1% 911,556 – 30% 100%
LOT Mobile B 362,000 32% 67% 1% 84,000 350,000 80% no data
Rossmann PL 5,500,000 86% 13% 1% 4,000,000 1,600,000 unable to compare no data
27
E-commerce
Apps
A. The Answear app has been available since July 2017, the data on the % YOY change in the number of MAU pertain to the RWD website
B. Due to the unique nature of this industry, the data are not limited to the Polish market.
C. Data pertain only to the Polish market.
1. Sum for all OSs.
2. An active user is one who has logged into the app or transactional website at least once a month.
3. Comparison between the number of MAU as of the end of 2017 and the number of MAU as of the end of 2016.
Percentage share of mobile sales in the online sales as a whole Additional statistics
Answear 38% –
LOT Mobile 12%
Ability to purchase tickets via the app, sale via the app – 4% of users.
Online check-in and receipt of the boarding pass; directly via telephone – 25% of users.

of the mobile app1
% Android % iOS
% WP /
others
YOY % change  
in the number of MAU
3 Percentage of mobile-only4 users
Onet 1,407,604 73% 25% 2% 323,919 homepage of onet.pl: 9,803,949 21% 20.5%
Gazeta.pl LIVE
448,000
(2017 – 70,000)
73% 27% – 161,800 homepage of Gazeta.pl: 1,627,060 -39% no data
Sport.pl LIVE
1,290,000
(2017 – 123,000)
82% 18% – 160,600 Sport.pl: 3,826,866 -45% no data
Moja Ciąża
345,100
(2017 – 133,000)
85% 15% – 72,800 eDziecko.pl: 1,619,295 -15% no data
Moje Dziecko
171,900
(2017 – 70,000)
100% – – 44,900 eDziecko.pl: 1,619,295 -20% no data
WP24 220,300 68% 32% – 107,105 N/A -13% 100%
WP Pilot 
formerly Videostar
870,000 91% 9% – 146,304 N/A N/A 52%
Poczta o2 720,000 84% 16% – 195,998 1,549,197 134% 23%
Pudelek 531,200 57% 43% – 90,627 4,245,407 -17% 52%
Open FM 1,230,000 87% 13% – 928,597 N/A 27% 70%
28
1. Total for all OSs.
2. An active user is one who has logged into the app or website at least once a month.
3. Comparison between the average number of MAU as of the end of 2017 and the number of MAU as of the end of 2016.
Portals

Summary of the opinions
on forecasts/trends on
the Polish market
banking m-commerce
payments mobile advertising

The summary of trends has been created on the basis  
of the responses of the following experts.
Their full contents can be found in the Polish version of the report.  
We would like to thank everyone who has aided us with their knowledge!
30
Kaja Krassowska-Suchan 
Electronic Banking Manager
Krzysztof Suchan 
Online Banking Development Bureau
Director
Łukasz Krystman 
Remote Products and New Technologies
Bureau Director
Konrad Olejarczyk 
User Experience Manager
Michał Czurabski  
Mobile Banking Development Team
Manager
Szymon Mitoraj 
Agile Digital Transformation Centre Director
Leszek Piekut  
Mobile Banking Development Department
Manager
m-banking
Artur Józefowski 
Mobile and Online Banking Expert
Łukasz Kuc  
Mobile and Internet Projects Bureau Director
Paweł Reichelt  
Electronic Banking Department Director
Ricardo Campos  
Electronic Banking Department Director
Bartosz Zborowski 
Innovations and Payments Department Director
Jakub Garbus 
Expert at the Retail Banking Distribution
Department
Andrzej Chechliński  
Online Sales and Digital Channels
Development Director
Maciej Barczuk  
Process Optimisation Expert

31
Aleksander Naganowski 
New Business Development Director
Adrian Kurowski  
Executive Director of Visa in Poland
Dariusz Mazurkiewicz 
President of the Management Board
Dariusz Knopiński 
Development Manager at Allegro
Grzegorz Kućma 
Project Manager
Aldo Angelino Ruiz Barturenz 
Portal Development Specialist
mobile payments
Tomasz Szulkowski 
Head of Mobext (Havas Media Group)
Katarzyna Dyczek 
Marketing Director
Katarzyna Stańczyk 
Marketing Specialist
Jakub Jeziorny 
COO of QPONY.pl Sp. z o.o.
Tomasz Jabłoński 
CEO/President of the Management Board  
of QPONY.pl Sp. z o.o.
Piotr Zieliński 
Senior SEO Specialist (Havas Media Group)
e-commerce i m-commerce advertising
Grzegorz Chyliński 
CEO of Adrino

32
Lucjan Exner 
Head of SalesCEE&CIS
Maciek Wiktorowski 
Director of Product Management
Tomasz Woźniak 
CEO of Future Mind
Marcin Marcinowski 
Creative & Communication Manager
Ewelina Dworak  
Online Advertising Product Development
Manager
advertising
Bartosz Burek 
Cofunder, CEO of CITY-NAV Sp. z o.o.
Paweł Bahyrycz 
Marketing Director
Bartłomiej Pucek 
Head of Mobile & Digital Projects
Zoﬁa Lach 
PR & Marketing Manager
Wojciech Jabczyński 
Spokesman of Orange Polska
mobile apps

What are the characteristics  
of Polish m-banking 
in 2018?
Mobile is indicated by representatives of the banking sector as an important
channel for communicating with a customer and one of the important
development areas in 2018. Although the Top 3 most popular smartphone
activities remain unchanged (money transfers, balance- checking and
history-checking), we are becoming more conﬁdent in also buying other
banking products and services in this channel. We also pay with our
smartphones more frequently. In 2017, the customers of Polish banks joined
the European big league in terms of the popularity of online and mobile
banking.

34
m-banking
Customer migration to mobile devices. At the end of 2017,  
as many as 9 million customers used mobile banking apps  
(2 million more than in the previous year).
Constantly growing ‘mobile only’ group. A smartphone is
becoming the main channel for communicating with a customer –
therefore, users' expectations with regard to the convenience  
and usefulness of banking apps are increasing.
Marked increase in purchases of banking products via
mobile as compared with the previous years.
Customers' interest in services outside of banking that may
be offered by the mobile app of a bank (e.g. parking, travel
industry-related services, etc.).
Polish mobile banking is among the European leaders in terms  
of modernity and adaptation of pioneering technological solutions.  
The demanding customers and innovativeness of banks create  
a market onto which Google is unafraid to introduce services
such as Google Pay.
Great interest in mobile payments, which stimulates banking
innovations in the area of transaction authorisation (biometry) and
constant expansion of the payment methods portfolio.
BLIK – a solution unique on a European scale, implemented on
the initiative of the banks comprising the Polish Bank Association,
which continues to gain popularity, becoming one of Poles'
favourite payment methods.

of the mobile payments market
in 2018?
The moment of payment made via telephone during online shopping
remains the bottleneck of m-commerce in Poland. As many as 30% of Polish
Internet users who shop via smartphones prefer to pay for their shopping  
on their computers instead of doing it immediately upon purchase. 
Digital technologies allow the mobile payments sector to change 
and develop rapidly. There is still room on the market for new payment
solutions. They will contribute to the increasing popularity of mobile
payments. The banking sector is the main evangelist.

36
Payments
BLIK, as a form of payment, due to its presence at 11 banks,  
is already available to 96% of Poles. In 2017, nearly 33 million
payments were made in this manner.
91% of the respondents declare that they perform ﬁnancial
transactions online or via a mobile app at least once a month,
which is the best result in Europe.
Banks enable customers to pay in the HCE standard and via Google
Pay, the popularity of which is high in Poland and continues to
increase. The Polish market is open to solutions based upon
tokenisation – a technology which enables a proximity card to be
recorded on any mobile device – Poles already have 800,000 cards
recorded on their smartphones.
Development of innovation-supporting collaborations between
start-ups and corporations. Such activities are initiated by
corporations (creating accelerator companies), optimise
collaboration and use the potential of small companies, creating
favourable conditions for their development (e.g. The Heart Warsaw,
whose strategic partner is Mastercard).
The payment-related FinTech scene is not developing as dynamically  
in Poland as it is in other Western European countries. This is due  
to both the lower afﬂuence of investment portfolios and the high level  
of development of digital payment services and their associated
innovations that are implemented by banks active on our market.
Nevertheless, investors' awareness is high in this area, and it is possible
that in the future, we will witness growth in this area, especially given  
the fact that the new legislation will support that.
The implementation of the PSD2 Directive combined with the open-
mindedness of Polish consumers will contribute to popularisation  
of mobile payments and solutions such as biometrics and encryption.

40% of Poles make at least one online purchase every three months.
There are already 23% of Polish Internet users that shop exclusively  
via mobile (15% of purchasers choose to also ﬁnalise transactions  
with their smartphones). 
Shopping with the use of voice assistants will be an important
phenomenon, which is coming to our country from abroad.
of Polish e-commerce and  
m- commerce in 2018?

38
e-commerce
Fast adaptation of smartphones to the searching and obtaining
of information on products and services. Poland is one of the
European leaders in mobile traffic.
Customers spend more time on the mobile app than on  
the mobile version of a website.
Persisting trend of viewing the product range on mobile
devices and finalising the purchases on a desktop computer.
Convenient product search and efficient communication with  
a customer are the main challenges faced by m- commerce.  
This is a development area for such solutions as chatbots, as well  
as visual and voice search. In 2017, shopping via voice assistants
debuted. This is an important trend, which will grow stronger  
in subsequent years.
In the field of m-commerce, we remain followers, and our ideas  
for new apps are usually inspired by solutions that already exist  
on Western European markets.
Personalisation and assistance – these are the key factors which
determine purchase via mobile. Customers expect content adjusted to
their preferences and habits, and smooth guidance through the shopping
process (use of Marketing Automation and Augmented Reality tools).
Online to offline strategy – support of sales in the traditional
channel.

The dynamics of spending on mobile advertising are not growing
as fast as the number of users who use mobile solutions. 
This segment has plenty of challenges for mobile marketers.  
A major one is and will continue to be accurate analysis of the data 
on smartphone users' behaviours, which will enable more customised
advertising campaigns.
What are the characteristics
of the Polish mobile advertising
market in 2018?

40
Advertising
More and more conscious use of the mobile channel  
in marketing.
Development of the product range focuses excessively on viewability
and on programmatic advertising, which carries the risk of increased
fraudulent traffic.
Nowadays, advertising content is often consumed on multiple
screens at a time, which is a challenge related to media
purchase. Smart use of cross-device, instead of the previous
approach, which adapted several basic formats known from the
big screen to mobile, will result in an ecosystem that will offer  
high-quality communication and reach a broad and massive
audience.
Polish publishers' acceptance of the regulations provided  
in the Coalition for Better Ads as the response to the users'
expectations with regard to the limitation of the number  
of intrusive formats.
Expected reinforcement of the position of native formats, resulting  
from the personal data processing-related restrictions (GDPR), 
and of the video format, as the more engaging one.
Data Mining – indicated as the most important trend, which enables
advanced analysis of a user's behaviours. Together with geolocation  
(a factor which distinguishes mobile from other channels), they provide
the potential for the creation of more elaborate behavioural profiles  
of a customer.
AR and VR – technologies used by marketers with increasing
willingness and frequency.
New user's interfaces, including Trend Voice, will definitely significantly
alter the perception of mobile marketing (although one must realise that
it is not a solution that will perform well in all types of interactions).  
The key to the rapid popularisation of such services as Google Home  
and Amazon Echo will be the ability to use them in one's mother tongue.

What are the trends in the
development of Polish  
mobile apps in 2018?
For two years, the smartphone penetration has not increased as
dynamically as before, remaining at a more or less stable level  
(it has increased by approx. 2%). 
Instead, we can observe a growing involvement of users and greater
intensity of use of mobile products. Poles want to use smartphones  
to satisfy their everyday needs.

42
Apps
Marked increase in the number of users who use the mobile
web in comparison with traditional websites, noticeable
lengthening of the time spent by users on apps.
Increase in the interest in online services – resulting in publishers'
focus on the satisfaction of a user's daily needs.
Very dynamic increase in video content consumption.  
In February 2017, video transfer made up 55% of the entire
mobile network traffic.
Constant increase in data transmission (caused chiefly by  
the spreading trend of using video and music streaming).  
The average data consumption doubles every year.  
By the end of 2017, the mobile data transfer in Orange Polska  
(one of the leading operators)'s network amounted to nearly 50
petabytes per month.
We can expect a growing number of innovations. However, purely
organic development of new products will become progressively  
more difficult, meaning that most new initiatives will come from major
players.
We forecast that more and more apps which will use AI and AR
and be based upon broadly-defined Machine Learning will
appear.

Report Summary
43
The data collected in our report distinctly show that one should no longer
question whether the mobile channel is going to be important for one's
company or even how to include it in its strategy. Although not every
company needs to be mobile-first, absolutely every single one should be
mobile-sensitive. Every company must be aware of the role and importance  
of mobile.
Careful read of this report and its previous editions leads us to conclude that
the market described by us is developing extremely dynamically. In the era  
of galloping technological progress, we cannot afford to be indifferent toward
new trends that are gathering popularity in Polish homes faster than most  
of the observers of our market estimate.
The figures cited in the report are not ‘meta’. We remain in the growth stage
and those figures are going to be even higher. Increases should be expected
particularly in the m-commerce and mobile payments areas. Let's note how
fast mobile banking has grown in Poland. In 2013, 51% of mobile banking
users declared that “mobile banking was just an addition to online banking”
and “they didn't use it unless they really needed to” (according to the report
“Rola mobilnych finansów w życiu Polaków” (The Role of Mobile Finances  
in the Lives of Poles). Today, not only has the added value been discovered
and defined, but new standards of use of mobile solutions have become
established, as well. Read through the report POLAND.IS.MOBI 2018 once
more and check how many Poles already use mobile banking exclusively  
on their smartphones. The mobile-only user group is growing by the month.
Today, many people may find the vision of rapid popularisation of voice-
operated solutions impossible. We have clear reasons to claim that we are
about to witness the heyday of the popularity of household voice assistants
(also due to the coming Polish editions of voice assistants). It is much simpler
and faster to tell the computer about one's need than to look it up online.  
This is the mode of communication with computers that we have striven for –
conversation instead of the need to click with a mouse or subsequently touch
the telephone keypad. Smart voice assistants will have an irreversible and
thorough impact on the change in our expectations toward the manner in
which technology is to serve people.
However, until that happens, let us dedicate more attention to the solutions
that we already have, for not all companies whose results we have presented
fully utilise the potential of the mobile solutions managed by them. Much
remains to be done in the field of their adjustment to a company's strategy
as well as to its target audience's potential and expectations. Hence the
statements made by representatives of Polish companies, who stress the
importance and significance of this process of design and development  
of mobile solutions so that they are aligned with those factors, are pleasant  
to hear. In-depth knowledge of the users' needs is the fundamental recipe
for a good product.
We hope that the report POLAND.IS.MOBI 2018 has been an inspiring read
and will help improve the existing solutions and notice further directions  
of the development of mobility in Poland. Good luck!

Monika Mikowska 
monika@jestem.mobi
Alicja Skalna 
alicja@mobeedick.com
Konrad Siwiński 
konrad.siwinski@kantartns.com
Publisher
The information and data made available in this report may be reproduced and/or disseminated in full or in part without the need to request consent from the holders of the copyrights  
to these materials, on the condition that the title of the report ‘POLAND.IS.MOBI 2018’ is listed as the source of the data.
Authors
to our Partners –  
for their ﬁnancial support for the creation of this publication.
to our Readers – 
for downloading and reading this report! 
We hope that it will make your companies even more mobi!
Thank you!

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