Business Research

Foreign companies looking at Poland often arrive with the same question, phrased a dozen different ways: “What is actually going on in this market?” Public reports tell you the size of the Polish economy and a few headline indicators. Trade press tells you what is making news. Neither answers the operational question — what does my specific industry look like in Poland today, and what does that mean for the decision in front of me?

That is what business research is for. Zalewski Consulting has been producing tailored business research on Poland for international clients for almost 30 years. This page describes the kinds of research we do, the data sources we use, and the engagement format clients typically choose.

What We Mean by Business Research

The term “business research” gets used loosely. We use it to mean: tailored intelligence on the Polish market for a specific commercial question. Not market reports for sale, not generic industry overviews. We get briefed by a client on a specific question, gather the information from primary and secondary sources, and deliver a written brief or report addressing the question with evidence.

Examples of typical questions clients have engaged us on:

Is there demand in Poland for [specific niche service or product]?
Who are the dominant players in [Polish sector] and what are their economics?
What pricing should we set for [product] in the Polish market?
What is the regulatory landscape for [specific business activity] in Poland?
What is the most efficient route to market for [target customer segment] in Poland?
How are [Polish customer type] making purchase decisions today?
What competitive responses should we expect if we enter [Polish market]?
What does the talent landscape look like for hiring [specific role type] in Poland?

The outputs are written analyses — typically 15-50 pages depending on scope — combining quantitative data (where available) with qualitative findings from primary sources.

Data Sources We Use

Polish market data quality varies widely by sector. We have learned which sources to trust and which to corroborate:

Public statistical data: GUS (Główny Urząd Statystyczny — Statistics Poland) is the definitive source for Polish demographic, economic, and sector data. Quality is high but lag can be 6-18 months for some indicators. Eurostat provides EU-comparative data. NBP (National Bank of Poland) publishes financial sector and macroeconomic data. ZUS publishes labour market data. These are our primary statistical sources.

Regulator and registry data: KRS (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy) is the public companies register — every Polish company’s filed annual accounts are accessible. Bisnode and Creditreform aggregate this data with credit information for paid access. CEIDG (sole-trader register) covers individual entrepreneurs. KNF publishes market data on financial services (banking, insurance, capital markets, payment institutions). UKE for telecoms market data. PRPS for railway market data. URE for energy sector. PARP for SME and startup-sector reports.

Industry associations: Most Polish industries have an active association publishing sector reports — Polish Chamber of Commerce, Polish Confederation Lewiatan (employer organisation), specific bodies like PIM (Polish Automotive Association), POLBANK (banking), PIIT (IT/telecoms), POHID (retail), Cosmetics Europe Polish chapter, ZBP for banking. Quality of association reports varies; we use them as starting points and corroborate the numbers.

Commercial market research: Where applicable we license data from PMR Research, Kantar Polska, GfK Polska, IQS, CBOS (public opinion). For technology: IDC, Gartner, Forrester all cover Polish sub-markets. For specific sectors there are excellent boutique research firms — for example, Selectivv for retail location analytics, Synigo for telecoms.

Primary research: Where the secondary picture is incomplete, we conduct primary research. Expert interviews are the most common form — we maintain a working contact list of practitioners across major Polish sectors built up over years. Customer interviews and surveys (where the question is consumer-facing). Mystery shopping for retail and service questions. On-site visits for facility-quality questions.

Sectors We Cover

Our sector coverage follows where our wider client work has taken us. Substantive working knowledge:

Financial services and fintech: banking, payments, insurance, investment management, crypto/VASP/CASP, lending — see our Fintech M&A and crypto licensing pages for related work
Manufacturing: automotive parts, electronics, food processing, building materials, furniture, chemicals, pharmaceuticals — see our supply chain page
Real estate: commercial, residential, hospitality, industrial/logistics, retail — including the major Polish REITs and developer landscape
Retail and e-commerce: grocery, fashion, DIY, marketplace dynamics, omni-channel patterns
Technology and software: SaaS, BPO/SSC, IT services, telecom, gaming and entertainment
Logistics and transport: 3PL, freight forwarding, warehousing, last-mile delivery, ports and intermodal
Energy: traditional power generation, renewables, oil and gas, district heating, electromobility
Healthcare: private hospital sector, pharmaceuticals distribution, medical devices, diagnostics
Professional services: legal, audit, consulting, recruitment, marketing — including BPO/SSC hub dynamics

Engagement Format

Most business research engagements fall into three patterns:

Quick briefs (1-2 weeks). Specific, narrow question with a 5-15 page written response. Often used to inform a single decision — “should we hire a Polish marketing agency or build an in-house team?”, “what is the realistic salary range for a Senior Java developer in Warsaw?”, “how should we price our SaaS product in PLN?”.

Standard research projects (3-6 weeks). Broader question with multiple components. Typical scope: market sizing, competitor analysis, customer behaviour, regulatory environment for a specific sector or sub-sector. 25-50 page report.

Ongoing intelligence (retainer). Continuous monitoring of a specific Polish sector or competitor set on behalf of a client. Monthly briefs, quarterly deep-dives, real-time alerts on relevant developments. Most common with clients who have made the investment decision and need to stay current on the market they have entered.

What We Have Learned About the Polish Market

A few patterns that show up consistently across our research engagements:

Polish consumer behaviour is more value-conscious than headlines suggest. Despite GDP growth and rising incomes, Polish consumers are systematically more price-sensitive than Western European peers in most categories. Premium positioning works for genuinely premium products and underperforms for “mid-market premium” attempts. Discount formats (Biedronka, Lidl, Kaufland) hold structurally larger market share in retail grocery than they do in Germany or France.

B2B sales cycles are slower than US/UK norms but more loyal once converted. Polish corporate buyers tend to take longer to evaluate vendors and are reluctant to switch from incumbents. Foreign B2B vendors entering Poland often underestimate the time-to-revenue and overestimate the risk of competitive switching once a relationship is established. Both effects work against optimistic plan-first-year forecasts and in favour of patient market entry.

Talent is genuinely scarce in technical roles, not just expensive. Salaries for senior software engineers, data scientists, and licensed financial professionals have converged with Western European levels in major cities (Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław). The constraint is supply more than cost — there are not enough senior engineers in absolute terms. Companies that succeed in Polish tech hiring usually have a remote-first or hybrid culture that lets them recruit from secondary cities and from across the EU.

Regulatory policy can change quickly under different governments. The 2023 government change brought significant policy direction shifts — most visibly in tax (reversal of some “Polish Deal” provisions), in financial services (the Crypto-Asset Market Act facing presidential veto), and in administrative structure. Our research builds in policy-change scenarios for sectors materially exposed to government decisions. This applies particularly to regulated industries.

Related Services

Business Feasibility — moves beyond research to a specific Go/No-Go on a business plan
Supply Chain — operational research on Polish sourcing and distribution
Invest in Poland — broader investment advisory
Mergers & Acquisitions — research and execution for Polish M&A targets
Why Poland — country-level economic and business environment

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between business research and a feasibility study?
Business research answers a specific market or competitive question with evidence. A feasibility study goes further — it takes a specific business plan and produces a Go/No-Go recommendation on whether to proceed. Research is one input into a feasibility study.

How long does a research engagement take?
1-2 weeks for a quick brief on a narrow question; 3-6 weeks for a standard research project; ongoing for retainer-based intelligence.

Do you provide research in English?
Yes. All our deliverables are in English. We can also prepare Polish versions if the report will be circulated to Polish-speaking stakeholders. Source data is gathered in whichever language it exists in (often Polish for sector-specific Polish data) and translated as needed.

How current is the data you use?
Public statistical data (GUS, Eurostat) typically lags 6-18 months. Where current data matters, we supplement with primary research — expert interviews, current commercial intelligence — to fill the gap. We always specify the as-of date for each data point and flag where projections are inferred from older base data.

Can you provide research that supports a specific predetermined conclusion?
No. We have refused engagements where the brief made it clear the client wanted endorsement of a position rather than independent research. The value of our research depends on its credibility, both to the client’s internal stakeholders and to external parties (boards, investors, regulators) who may see the output. Predetermined conclusions destroy that credibility.

Do you cover business research in Polish licensed financial services specifically?
Yes — this is a specialisation. The Polish payment institution sector (API/SPI/EMI), VASP/CASP framework, forex/CFD broker landscape, and gaming sector all have specific dynamics that generic research firms cover poorly. We work in these markets daily.

Is there a confidential way to engage you for research about a Polish competitor or partner?
Yes. All client engagements are confidential by default. For research where the subject company should not learn about the research, we conduct it through neutral secondary research and our existing expert network rather than through any approach to the subject. The fact of the engagement is itself confidential.

Need business research on a specific Polish market question? Contact us with a brief description of the question. We will return within a few days with a proposed scope.

Business Research