Professor Bogna Pilarczyk, PhD. Magdalena Stefańska, PhD. Department of Marketing Strategy Faculty of Management Poznan University of Economics Al. Niepodległości 10 60-697 Poznań, Poland Tel. +48 61 8543771 e-mail:
[email protected] [email protected] 1 Retail marketing strategies - evolution and the future of retail companies in Poland Abstract The Polish retailing has changed during last 20 years. Foreign investments influenced that process. We could observe both qualitative and quantitative changes in the period 1990- 2008. Expansion of large international retailers at that time forced Polish companies to reorganise and modify own marketing strategies. We can find examples of strategies of expansion, selective growth, connected with private labels and high quality assortment. Some of them are directly connected with the format of retailer stores. We wanted to identify, by analyzing facts from last few years trends in which retailing will develop in Poland.1 Keywords: transformation of the Polish trade, foreign investments in retailing in Poland, marketing strategies in retailing, Introduction Retailing in Poland is among the fastest growing economic sectors. As a special type of business activity, characterised by significant flexibility, this branch of the national economy has demonstrated substantial capacity in terms of adapting to the changing environment. The aim of this article is to diagnose and evaluate the transformations which have occurred in Polish retailing over the past 20 years. The article takes account both of quantitative, as well as qualitative changes, stressing the role played by foreign enterprises or mixed-capital companies in these processes. The authors pinpoint selected operating strategies used by Polish and international retailers.