Konrad Kiedrzyński: We hear voices of optimism and enthusiasm in the e-commerce branch, but is the picture really so rosy? What challenges does the sector face, both worldwide and in Poland?

Marek Sodolski: I am generally optimistic about e-commerce, including in Poland. Given the 30 percent [broadband] penetration in Polish society, the share of online transactions in our sales in Poland reaches 80 percent - a higher ratio than in the US. In addition, many "traditional" companies are increasing their percentage of e-business activity in their operations.

There are some obstacles, though, such as the [Polish] Electronic Signature Act, which could be simpler so that people could take advantage of e-administration as well as e-commerce. Another barrier may be the domination of several large companies on the online market. Certainly, greater competition will stimulate market development even more.

Do you see any difference between e-commerce in Poland and other countries?

The situation is very interesting. On the one hand, the majority of sociological research shows that Polish society is resistant to fast changes and novel ideas. On the other hand, the share of e-sales in our company - as I already mentioned - is impressive. Based on my experience, I can say that statistics do not reflect the real picture.

Poland is also seeing a boom in education - never have so many people studied at universities. Also, in approaching modern technology, Poles are not behind the rest of the world - quite the contrary.

What actions could be taken to stimulate development?

The availability of credit cards could be better, although this is not a major obstacle. It is more important to introduce more firms to the online market, increasing supply. I also see strong potential for growth in the infrastructure and logistics sectors. In fact, e-commerce and logistics should go hand-in-hand. It is relatively easy to create virtual reality, but logistics remains the core of the business.

Amway's e-commerce platform was partly designed by a Polish company and is now being implemented across Europe - was the working relationship with this firm fruitful?

While the so-called "back-office" of the platform was created by the engineers of Amway and based on IBM systems, the "front-end" was created by [Polish firm]

e-point. We are more than satisfied with the cooperation, I must say. The project was also awarded PMI's Project Management Excellence Award.

We hear a lot about individualization as a trend in online marketing. Are there any other trends on the horizon?

Companies that operate in e-commerce will be targeting potential clients on various levels. The volume of online advertising today is so huge that person-to-person contact will be gaining importance as a method of marketing. That is why social networking groups based on Web 2.0 will be the dominant theme for the next few years. There are also a lot of interesting e-commerce ideas that can be implemented in the so-called "traditional" areas.

Will e-commerce marginalize your traditional trade, or will the two areas be coordinated?

In our company, e-commerce is a tool which plays the same role as telephone and banking services have played. E-commerce will stimulate the development of traditional sales rather than pose any threat.