A true national icon in the previous Communist era under the name of KMPiK (press clubs offering consultation of foreign newspapers), the Empik Group (bookshop, newspapers and multimedia) is a rising example of a new model of development based on phygital strategies. This combines the best of shops + e-commerce + marketplace + social media + subscriptions.
Sold in 1994 by the Polish state to Eastbridge N.V., (businessman Ronny Bruckner), Empik Group operated 276 stores at the end of 2019. The Empik.com e-commerce website offers 1.5 million products for culture, electronics, home and garden, children or health and beauty. With 250 million visits a year, the web site is one of the top 10 online sites on the Polish market.
The firm deploys innovative digital formulas: product reservation and shipment in less than 2 hours, increasing a powerful digital marketplace of 1,200 companies and launching an ‘influencer’ platform for social networks. With this new technology from the beginning of October, bloggers, vloggers and influencers who promote items on the site earn commission of up to 4% of sales.
Empik Group also uses subscription sales, a model that Amazon updated with the ‘Amazon Prime’ formula. Speaking on October 22nd at a webinar on “Retail Reimagined”, Mona Kinal, Marketing Director of Empik, announced the launch of a premium subscription programme. Services include free delivery for purchases over €33.80, access to 200 audiobooks / e-books plus podcasts on the ‘Empik Go’ application. An initiative that will increase loyalty amongst the best customers within 5 million “classic” subscribers.