BLIK, cards, instalments: what Polish shoppers expect
You can have the best product and the prettiest store and still lose on the last screen - because the customer did not find the payment method they use every day.
The Polish checkout plays by its own rules: BLIK is a reflex, cash on delivery is still alive, and instalments can unlock a pricier cart. You pick your set of methods to fit the product, not the fashion.
BLIK is not a payment method, it's a reflex
Foreign e-commerce guides start their list of methods with cards. In Poland the list looks different - because a customer who wants to pay fast reaches for their phone, opens the banking app and types in a six-digit BLIK code. They don't look for a wallet, don't copy sixteen digits from a card, don't enter a CVV.
The practical takeaway is simple: BLIK should be first and default. If the customer has to look for it in a dropdown under "other methods", you pay a penalty for hiding the most convenient path in your store.
Cards: needed, but not in first place
Cards still matter - especially for purchases made on a computer, for customers from abroad and for subscriptions, where the payment has to repeat automatically. Don't drop them. Just don't put them on a pedestal, because in a Polish cart they are not the default choice.
Apple Pay and Google Pay, on the other hand, are worth the effort. For a customer on a phone it is one tap instead of typing in numbers - and that is exactly the moment when a purchase is easiest to lose.
Cash on delivery: more expensive, but still needed
Cash on delivery is inconvenient for the seller: it costs more, delays the money and raises the risk of parcels that are never collected. It is tempting to switch it off.
Before you do, count how many orders actually use it. In some industries - and on a first purchase from an unknown seller - cash on delivery is sometimes the only method with which the customer feels safe. Switching it off does not turn those orders into transfers. It turns them into no orders.
Instalments and buy-now-pay-later: leverage for an expensive cart
On a PLN 200 (about €45) cart nobody cares about instalments. On a PLN 4,000 (about €930) cart they can be what makes the purchase possible at all - because instead of one big decision the customer makes a smaller one, spread over time.
If you sell equipment, furniture, bikes or electronics, having no instalments at checkout is not a saving. It is closing the door on some of the customers who wanted to buy - just not all at once.
How to set it up in your store
There is no single universal set. There is, however, a simple rule: start with what your customer does by reflex, then add what unlocks harder purchases.
- Cart under PLN 200, shopping on a phone - BLIK, Apple Pay / Google Pay, card. No need for instalments.
- Cart of PLN 200-1,000 - BLIK, card, instant bank transfers. Keep cash on delivery if your customers use it.
- Cart over PLN 1,000 - all of the above plus instalments and buy-now-pay-later. This is where they start to earn their keep.
And one thing that is easy to forget: every payment method has its own cost on the provider's side. A card costs differently from BLIK, instalments differently from a transfer. That is normal and you pay it with any provider - but it is worth knowing how much before you decide a method "doesn't pay".
In DoSwiftly you switch on BLIK, cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and instant transfers by connecting your own PayU or Przelewy24 account in the admin panel - the checkout shows the methods you have active with the provider. You enable cash on delivery in the panel without a contract with a payment provider; your carrier has to support it - InPost does, Orlen Paczka does not. See the list of integrations.
Try it on your own store
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