The Use of Digital Communication Channels by Polish Consumers – Changes Caused by the Pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic belongs to external, unpredictable, random factors that affect all areas of life, especially economic life (Nicola, et al., 2020; Lussier, Hartmann, 2020; Jonhston, Cortez, 2020). The restrictions and lockdown introduced in Poland and many other countries forced almost all economic sectors to transfer their activities to the Internet. Inability and limitations of direct interpersonal contacts made it necessary to use remote forms of communication. In these conditions, enterprises, primarily commercial and service ones, were forced to serve their customers online (Pantano, et al., 2020; Bytyçi, et al., 2021). As a result, companies, institutions, and offices were forced to accelerate the digitization processes. The report of the World Bank and the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PAED) shows that over 30% of companies have increased the use of the Internet, applications, or digital platforms, mainly in small- and medium-sized enterprises, micro-enterprises, and offices. Among the winners of the PAED competition entitled “Top 100 projects to increase the level of digitization in the company,” as many as 72% were micro-companies (www01, 2020). Cooperative banks, which were significantly behind commercial banks in the digitization processes, also accelerated the launch of electronic service channels (Szymański, 2020).

In the new reality caused by the pandemic, consumers also had to face many challenges. Among these, the first one is the the need to execute transactions with suppliers and service providers remotely. As a result, buyers had to start using or intensify the existing use of digital devices and digital communication channels. According to the report of the Chamber of Electronic Commerce of February 2021, 60% of Poles made purchases online regularly before the pandemic, with 35% buying at least once a week. Due to the pandemic, more than half of consumers (51%) increased their spending on online shopping or started buying online. Another 19% of consumers declared an increase in e-commerce spending in 2021 (www02, 2021). In turn, the cyclical report of this Chamber of Electronic Economy, published every year in June, shows that in 2018, 52% of respondents did online shopping; in 2019, it was 57%; in 2020, it was already 72%;and in 2021, this percentage was 84%. The greatest number of new e-buyers came in the group of people over 50, from the Silver Power generation, and also in the group of very young people, from the Z generation (www03, 2021). The dynamics of the transition from traditional banking to online banking has also increased. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report shows that the use of online banking on a global scale increased by 23% and that of mobile banking by 30%. On average, 13% of respondents used online banking for the first time during the pandemic (www04, 2021). As a consequence, it caused a change in the habits and market behavior of consumers regarding, above all, the way of shopping: ordering, negotiating, making payments, delivering and receiving goods (Jha, Pradhan, 2020; Majerčáková, Rostasova, 2021; Gorzelany-Dziadkowiec, 2020; Roggeveen, Sethuraman, 2020).

It should also be noted that, in addition to the shift to using remote channels to make purchases, the pandemic has sparked other unusual customer responses and behaviors. In the first stage of the pandemic, fear of disease, uncertainty about the functioning of stores, and fear of rising prices led to an increase in impulsive purchases (Naeem, 2021; Wang, et al., 2020). Research conducted at the beginning of the second wave of the epidemic in the Czech Republic showed interesting changes in the behavior patterns of different generations of consumers, confirming the theory of the generation relay race (Eger, et al., 2021). Models of consumer behavior during a pandemic are also built (Safara, 2020). However, it is not known whether these changes will be permanent and will create completely new purchasing patterns and habits (Sheth, 2020; Svajdova, 2020). The results of global research conducted by Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) in 2020 suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic is contributing to the emergence of a new type of consumer who is financially constrained, more rational and selective in his purchasing decisions, more advanced in using digital technologies, and perceives the pandemic as an opportunity to verify the value of trust in the world (www05, 2020). Undoubtedly, the coronavirus pandemic had an impact on changing the behavior of Polish consumers (Reformat, 2020); however, it is not known how deep and lasting these changes are.

The aim of the article is to answer the following question: How did the pandemic affect the preferences of Polish consumers with regard to the use of digital communication and service channels, and to what extent these changes may be permanent? In particular, the following research questions were answered: 1)

How were Polish consumers prepared for using digital communication channels during the pandemic? What was the level of their digital competences?

The structure of the article, which consists of the following sections, conforms to the goal formulated in this way and to the research questions. Section 2 describes the materials used and the research methods. Section 3 deals with the digital competences of Polish consumers ahead of the pandemic. Section 4 discusses changes in consumer behavior regarding the use of digital communication channels due to the pandemic. Section 5 describes the expectations and declarations of consumer behavior after the pandemic. Section 6 is the summary.

The article uses mainly secondary research data collected by domestic and foreign research institutions, statistical offices, and research and consulting agencies. And so, to assess the digital competences of Polish consumers, reports of the European Commission and data of the Polish Central Statistical Office were used. Data from the annual reports of the European Commission concerned the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). The 2020 Human Capital subindex, which assesses the digital competences of citizens of all European Union (EU) Member States, was subjected to a detailed analysis. The second source was the results of surveys conducted by the Central Statistical Office and the Statistical Office of Szczecin, published in a compact study (Information Society in Poland in 2020).

Changes in the manner and scope of the use of digital communication channels by Polish consumers, which were caused by the pandemic, as well as expectations and declarations regarding the use of these channels after the pandemic were assessed on the basis of the results of research conducted by research centers and consulting agencies such as CubeResearch, McKinsey, PwC, and KPMG, published in their reports for the years 2020–2021. Data from the World Bank, the PAED, and the report of the Chamber of Electronic Economy from 2021 were also used.

The following research methods were used: critical analysis of the literature, analysis of secondary data in various sections and perspectives, and deductive reasoning.

The transition to remote communication channels in commercial transactions, which was caused by the pandemic, forced many Polish consumers to acquire and others to raise and broaden their digital competences. It was a difficult challenge due to the fact that the digital competences of Polish consumers before the pandemic were not at a very high level, especially compared to the level of these competences in the EU countries. Digital competences are defined as the ability to fluently use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), that is, having basic skills in the field of using computers to search, evaluate, store, create, present, and exchange information, as well as to communicate and participate in collaborative networks by means of the Internet (Cedefop, 2014).

The digital competences of Poles before the pandemic assessed on the basis of Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and more precisely on the basis of the subindex Human Capitalwere below the European Union (EU) average. In 2020, Poland obtained the overall result of this subindex of 37.3 and the EU average was 49.3, which gave 22nd place in the ranking of 28 EU countries (www06, 2020). Fig. 1 presents assessments of basic and secondary digital skills of citizens assessed under this subindex. As shown in Fig. 1, in all categories, the ratings for Poland are much lower than the average for the 28 EU countries. Poland is at the shortest distance from the EU average in terms of the number of employed ICT specialists, who constitute 3% of employees, compared to the EU average of 3.9%.

Figure 1

The relatively low level of digital competences of Polish consumers is also confirmed by surveys of Polish statistical institutions. Research carried out by the Central Statistical Office and the Statistical Office from Szczecin (Information Society in Poland in 2020, 2020) showed that most Poles (31.5%) had low general digital skills in 2020, slightly over 24% showed basic skills digital, while over 26% of Polish citizens had secondary digital skills (Fig. 2).

Figure 2

Young people had by far the highest digital skills (almost 64% of people aged 16–24 showed secondary digital skills). As for the type of skills (information, communication, problem solving, software), the highest level was recorded for communication skills (63.7%) and information skills (61.6%). Also, 55% of respondents declared that they had above-basic problem-solving skills. However, only 31.4% of respondents indicated above-basic skills related to software and 31.1% stated a complete lack of skills in this area. The main reasons for this state of affairs and barriers to the development of digital competences of Polish consumers, especially those aged 50+, are insufficient motivation to use modern digital technologies, the lack of a sufficient number of appropriate courses and trainings and competent training staff, as well as the lack of systemic solutions in the approach to this problem (Szwajca, 2021).

The pandemic has forced consumers to use remote communication channels and buy most goods online (Grashuis, et al., 2020; Koch, et al., 2020; Moon, et al., 2021; Taha, et al., 2021). The use of digital communication channels by Polish consumers has been the subject of many studies conducted by research centers and consulting agencies such as CubeResearch, McKinsey, and PwC. Research conducted at the turn of September and October 2020 by CubeResearch on behalf of Ernst & Young and Billennium

The study was conducted on a representative group of 530 respondents, taking into account the reference distributions in terms of sex, age, education, and place of residence. Additionally, a special study was carried out on a subgroup of 283 people who used the video channel to contact companies and institutions. Computer-Assisted Web Interview interviews were used – online survey, supported by Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing interviews – telephone survey.

Figure 3

Using a video channel to communicate with companies, shops, or offices is not popular among the respondents. Only 37% of the respondents replied that they had ever used the video channel to deal with their affairs, while the vast majority did not have such experiences. During the pandemic, almost 60% of respondents used at least two different channels and 38% of respondents used both digital portals and the telephone channel.

During the pandemic, the frequency of using digital channels also changed (Fig. 4). Half of the respondents increased this frequency and 46% used it as often as before the pandemic.

Figure 4

Changes in consumer use of digital channels due to the pandemic were also investigated by McKinsey & Company in April 2021

The survey was conducted on a group of 1,200 respondents aged 18–65+ years in each of the 24 countries surveyed, including 19 European countries and Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and the USA.

The pandemic was the main reason for starting the use of digital channels for a total of 53% of respondents. This percentage varied across the analyzed sectors. Most new users have been forced to use digital services in the health-care, education, and food sectors (Fig. 5).

Figure 5

According to a study by PwC (www09, 2020), during the pandemic, Polish consumers bought groceries mainly from stationary stores and only 11% of respondents made online purchases (Fig. 6).

Figure 6

Online shopping with home delivery was mainly done by surveyed consumers from cities of over 500,000 inhabitants. However, 90% of those who shopped online said they were buying groceries online after the pandemic also (86% of respondents in the world). On the other hand, the digital channel dominated when buying product categories such as media and entertainment, consumer electronics (computers for work/study), sports products and services, and household appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, stoves, etc.).

The surveyed consumers made purchases online, most often using a computer, slightly less frequently with a smartphone, and least often with a tablet (Fig. 7).

Figure 7

Smartphones and tablets are not primarily used by rural residents and people aged 55+ to do shopping. The majority of people using specific devices declared that they would also make purchases using them after the lifting of the restrictions, and this mainly concerns a computer (87%) and a smartphone (66%).As for the tablet, such a declaration was made by 39% of respondents. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the report of the Chamber of Electronic Economy (Fig. 8).

Figure 8

As shown in Fig. 8, during the pandemic, the surveyed consumers most often used laptops and smartphones for shopping purposes, while the use of desktop computers was decreasing. The intention to start using a digital device for shopping in 2021 was declared by fewer people than in previous years (in 2018, it was on average 13% of respondents and in 2021, on average 6%).

This is likely due to the fact that the conditions of the pandemic have forced many consumers to use these devices to get things done, including shopping. The intention to use smart TV and smart watches for shopping purposes was indicated primarily by young consumers from Generation Z, while in relation to desktops and laptops, these were people from the Silver Power generation, that is, those aged 55+.

On the other hand, the results on media consumption, including digital media, are interesting. It turns out that the pandemic only slightly increased the use of various media, with the greatest increases found in instant messaging, television, social media, and traditional books (Fig. 9). The lowest increases were seen in video games, e-sports, music listening applications, e-books, podcasts, and the paper press.

Figure 9

Keeping distance and limiting face-to-face communication were imperative during the course of the pandemic. Consumers were doomed to use digital devices and remote forms of contact. According to the research conducted by CubeResearch cited above, the majority of respondents (80%) assessed these forms of communication positively, but only 14% responded “definitely positive” (Fig. 10).

Figure 10

In the above-mentioned research, the respondents were also asked how important it is for them to have direct contact with a representative of a company, shop, or institution when shopping or dealing with official matters. It turned out that the vast majority of respondents (75%) prefer face-to-face contact. Perhaps that is why, the respondents' declarations regarding the frequency of using digital channels after the pandemic do not indicate an increase in their popularity. As shown in Fig. 11, only slightly more than 50% of respondents indicated the intention to use digital channels equally or more often, while 41% declared that they would use these channels less frequently after the pandemic. The few respondents who will not use digital channels cited the following reasons: no such need, preferred personal or telephone contact, and no possibility.

Figure 11

The video channel did not gain much popularity either. Only 19% of existing users of the video channel intend to use it more often after the pandemic, 28% would use it the same often, 36% less often, and 17% will not use it anymore.

The respondents were also asked to indicate in which of these areas they would see the possibility of replacing direct face-to-face contact with a remote channel (Fig. 12).

Figure 12

More than half of the respondents indicated banking operations (63%) and dealing with matters in offices (51%). A slightly smaller percentage of respondents (over 40%) would accept remote purchases of electronic equipment and household goods, clothing and footwear, and purchase of insurance. For about one-third of the respondents, direct contact would not be necessary when taking out a loan, shopping for groceries, or investing savings. The smallest number of respondents would imagine remote education, medical consultations, or buying a car.

The global consumer sentiment survey conducted by McKinsey in April 2021 shows that while the coronavirus pandemic caused a rapid transition to digital channels in most industries, the last 6 months have seen a stabilization in the development of digitization and is projected to decline. The surveyed consumers from Europe, the USA, Brazil, China, India, and Mexico declared that in sectors such as healthcare, education, public sector, and retail, they will use digital channels less frequently than during the pandemic. Those who stick to digital channels will do so solely for the sake of convenience (Hajro, et al., 2021).

Similar trends were recorded in the mood of Polish consumers. In the 2021 edition of the “Digital Consumer Survey,” the percentage of surveyed consumers using at least one digital channel decreased by 20% compared to the 2020 edition of the survey. The largest decrease (by 28 percentage points) was recorded among customers of online grocery stores. Declaring less use of online services after the pandemic mainly concerned the sectors of education (14%), healthcare (26%), and public administration services (7%). Overall, it has been estimated that up to 4.5 million Poles may return to using traditional forms of service after the pandemic. The main motive of consumers who will continue to use remote channels is convenience (www10, 2021).

The use of remote communication channels with suppliers and offices by consumers very often requires digital identity confirmation. According to the cited studies (www07, 2021), over 67% of Polish consumers have made digital identity identification via the Internet (ID, trusted profile); however, most respondents have doubts as to the security of this method. Every 10th respondent stated that digital identity identification is not secure, 35% of respondents thought the opposite, while over half (56%) were not able to answer this question unequivocally.

The restrictions on direct interpersonal contacts introduced due to the coronavirus pandemic resulted in the necessity to switch to remote communication channels in commercial relations. This forced customers and consumers to shop online and use a variety of digital devices. According to data from the report of the Chamber of Electronic Economy from June 2021, the percentage of consumers shopping online increased from 57% in 2019 to 84% in mid-2021. Other studies show that the pandemic was the main reason why over 50% of respondents started using digital channels. According to the results of the research conducted by CubeResearch, from mid-2020, the most frequently used channels were customer service portal, telephone call with the hotline or with an advisor, mobile application of the service provider, and the least frequently contacted was via chat or video call. Most new users of digital channels have been forced to use them in the sectors of healthcare, education, and grocery shopping. The frequency of using digital channels increased in half of the surveyed consumers. When shopping, Polish consumers most often used a desktop computer or a laptop, a little less often used a smartphone, and least used a tablet.

For many consumers, the limitation of the functioning of traditional communication channels meant the necessity to acquire and/or expand digital competences, which were not too high before the pandemic, especially in the context of digital competences of citizens of EU countries. According to the Human capital subindex, which creates DESI, which assesses the basic and secondary digital competences of citizens, in 2020, Poland was ranked 22nd among 28 EU countries. Also, 44% of adult Poles had at least basic digital skills, and the EU average was 58%. However, according to the data of the Central Statistical Office, over one-third of Poles in 2020 had low digital skills. Basic and secondary digital skills were recorded in the youngest age groups from 16 to 24 years old. Regarding the type of digital competences, the highest level was recorded in relation to communication and information activities, while a much lower level concerned the use of the Internet to solve problems and activities related to software.

Most Polish consumers (75%) prefer a direct communication channel when dealing with a company, shop, or office. Therefore, they declare their willingness to return to face-to-face contacts after the pandemic. Such contact is preferred primarily when it comes to shopping for groceries, investing savings, education, medical consultations, or buying a car. Consumers are able to accept remote contact with regard to banking operations, dealing with official matters, purchasing insurance, and purchasing durable goods. Over 40% of the surveyed consumers declared that they would use digital channels less after the pandemic. They were mainly 50+ consumers.

Based on the analysis of the research results, it can be concluded that the pandemic did not substantially change the preferences of Polish consumers as regards the use of digital communication channels. This applies especially to consumers over 50 years of age, most of whom do not declare that they use digital channels more frequently to contact companies, shops, and offices after the pandemic has ended. Perhaps the underlying causes of these declarations are temporary emotions related to the need to respond to a forced situation during a pandemic. Other possible reasons for such attitudes may be the relatively low digital competences of Polish consumers, too high barriers to their development, as well as the lack of trust in the security of digital identification. It should be noted, however, that enterprises or institutions that accelerated the digitization process due to the pandemic will be more likely to use digital solutions more often and more intensively. The clarification of these issues requires, however, in-depth research in this area after a longer period of time.

The results of the conducted research and the formulated conclusions may be used by marketing managers to improve their strategies and select the appropriate marketing instruments in the area of communication and customer service. They can also inspire to conduct further in-depth research in relation to the use of digital marketing tools, taking into account characteristics such as age, gender, income, education, or place of residence. The considerations and conclusions contained in the article may also be a comparative basis for research conducted in this area in the longer period after the pandemic.

The conducted research was limited to the analysis of secondary data on which the considerations and conclusions were based. The results would probably be more complete and interesting if they were enriched with our own primary research. Another limitation is the focus on the behavior of Polish consumers, without broader international comparisons.