Despite the obvious advantages of having an online presence, it seems that around half of all Polish entrepreneurs remain stuck in the offline world. According to Mohammad Gawdat, head of the emerging markets department at Google, Poland’s corner of the web is dominated by large companies. Polish SMEs, in contrast, are laggards in logging on, especially when compared to their peers in other areas of the CEE region.

Source: Millward Brown SMG/KRC for Google Poland

Meanwhile, around 40 percent of Polish consumers admit to researching products online before they make a purchase.

The Polish government encourages micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to use the web through the 8.1 and 8.2 measures of the Innovative Economy operational program, which support e-services and B2B technologies respectively. The programs have 2008-2013 budgets of €390 million and €460 million. Successful applicants receive grants for two years, but must continue to conduct business activity for another three years afterwards. If the company fails, the grant must be returned.