Regulations on the E-Commerce Market in Poland

Abstract

Internet is a driving force of the contemporary economy because it creates opportunities for development and internationalization of the companies. Intensive development of web technologies, gradual improvement of ITC connections and growth of new media for accessing the Internet can be witnessed in the present context. This attracts a growing number of Internet users. Technologies like electronic communication have changed the structure and profile of businesses and promoted the development of e-commerce. E-commerce is regulated by a number of laws defining rules of running the business and norms for protecting customers using e-commerce. This study investigates the basic laws and their scope, which determine the operation of businesses in the e-commerce market. The findings suggest that the state needs to support the development of the e-commerce through mechanisms like latest directives and through mitigating attempts to abuse the competitive position on the market. Further the companies on the Polish e-commerce market use the Internet as an additional sales channel. Moreover it was observed that the Polish e-commerce is moving from the phase of rapid growth to maturity phase. Underdevelopment of e-government services, limited impact of strategic documents on interoperability on business activity, delays in dissemination of functional and cost-effective technological solutions, possible breach of privacy can be identified as some of the bottlenecks in the Polish e-commerce industry.