As they do every year, retail chains have set out in pursuit of consumers, competing for space in popular resort towns. Nearly two-thirds of Poles surveyed will spend less than PLN 5,000 on summer activities, and one in five plan to spend between PLN 5,000 and 10,000– at the same time, a parallel battle is underway to win over customers who will stay home this summer, a situation that applies to one in four respondents. The global sector of pop-up stores, meaning seasonal stores, is already worth nearly $15 billion, and is projected to grow by an average of over ten percent annually in the coming years. Heavy tourist traffic and a growing number of points of sale put retailers’ organizational efficiency to the test. The right technology infrastructure supports sales processes and onboarding for seasonal employees. How does iXpos help retailers keep operations running smoothly during the busy season in retail?
The Coast, the Mountains, and the Masurian Lakes: Retail Chains in Poland’s Popular Tourist Destinations
Pop-up storesaren’t unique to Poland. The global value of this sales channel reached $14.8 billion, and the segment is expected to grow at an average rate of 12 percent per year through the middle of the next decade. This format is especially popular with consumers for clothing (28.5% market share), food and beverages (nearly 20%), and electronics (over 15%).
The phenomenon of opening vacation stores has become a permanent fixture of the Polish summer landscape. It’s not just supermarkets, drugstores, and convenience chains — like Żabka, which is opening 170 additional locations this year — that are heading to resort towns, but clothing and sporting goods brands as well. For retailers, it’s a chance to connect with consumers in a different setting, at a time when the pace of life slows down and customers can explore the store’s offering at their leisure. For vacationers, seasonal stores are an opportunity to update their wardrobe or pick up something they forgot to pack — but that’s not all: research confirms that while on vacation, we’re more open to new things and more willing to give unfamiliar brands a chance.
Retail chains compete for prime locations, often situated along main promenades and walking routes in resort towns. These locations are carefully chosen, and their geographic spread mirrors Poles’ vacation preferences. When planning their summer break, Poles most often choose coastal towns (45% of respondents), hiking trips in the Carpathians and Sudetes (one in four respondents), and the Masurian Lake District (16%).
Retailers Are Looking for Flexibility and Reliability
Seasonal points of sale at the peak of vacation season represent an opportunity for extra revenue, but also bring an entirely new set of challenges. With temporary retail locations, it’s often hard to speak of access to genuine warehouse space. This can create problems, particularly for goods that require specific storage conditions, such as maintaining a cold chain. As a result, chains rely on Just-in-Time delivery, while the geographic spread of locations further drives up logistics costs. Cloud-based, real-time inventory management tools and automation that ensures orders are fulfilled completely prove especially helpful here.
Staffing shortages are another challenge — last year, in the third quarter of 2025, as many as 7 out of 10 stores located in resort towns were looking for additional support. Seasonal workers aren’t just needed on the sales floor — truck drivers and logistics center staff also want to take vacation time and rest, so chains turn to temporary staffing agencies for support. Those looking for seasonal employment can often count on above-average pay and additional benefits, such as accommodation and meals.
The technology infrastructure behind these makeshift stores shouldn’t be overlooked either. Retail chains are increasingly asking about the option to rent point-of-sale terminals and flexibly manage their POS software subscriptions. When a retailer expands its store network by ten, twenty, or more percent almost overnight, that’s an added strain that traditional monolithic systems may not be able to handle. On top of that, there’s the matter of training seasonal staff, including those who’ve come to work from abroad — the sales system needs to be intuitive and available in at least a few languages.
iXpos: Meeting the Challenges of Peak Season
iXpos, offered by INEOGroup, delivers scalability and flexibility. Centralized settings across the entire chain help reduce the risk of human error and keep sales rules and promotional policies clear and consistent across every location, ensuring a consistent customer experience. Synchronizing data, purchase history, and loyalty program points makes it easier to run omnichannel sales, while automated ordering and inventory management take the worry out of logistics challenges.
A Consistent Customer ExperienceNever Takes a Vacation
Customers remain demanding even on vacation, and winning their attention requires delivering a consistent shopping experience, including at makeshift points of sale. At home, on a business trip, at a resort, or online — whether on a website or in an app — consumers expect the same level of convenience and functionality everywhere. If we reward customer loyalty, points need to accrue across every sales channel.”Buy now, pay later”, free delivery to stores, and easy returns regardless of purchase method are today’s standard — and maintaining that standard simply pays off. In a fiercely competitive market where consumer loyalty is a rare commodity, inconsistency is a luxury no retailer can afford: every other customer is ready to turn away from a brand after just one negative experience.
During vacation season, courier companies offering parcel-locker delivery become valuable allies for retailers. If a chain can’t establish a presence in a given resort or region through an additional pop-up store, favorable shipping terms — free delivery above a certain cart value, or reduced rates on same-day delivery services — are valued by consumers and can translate into higher sales.
There’s No Place Like Home: What Do Poles Who Skip Their Vacation Trip Buy Instead?
One in four Poles will spend this year’s vacation at home. Giving up on vacation plans doesn’t necessarily mean giving up on shopping, and certain product categories let people make better use of their free time on their own terms, without having to travel far. Home and garden retailers offerseasonal products such as pools, garden furniture, and grills.Poles who stay home often use their vacation time to tackle long-postponed renovations — one in five respondents cited “refreshing” their home as an additional vacation expense. DIY products are also popular during vacation season.
When we spend our vacation close to home, we’re often able to spend more on local attractions: we’re more likely to visit museums and galleries, and take advantage of the local restaurant scene, zoos and water parks. Summer is also the season for family celebrations like christenings and weddings, and 16% of respondents are planning extra spending for these occasions.
During summer retailers test new ways of reaching consumers and look for flexible solutions that guarantee reliability and support additional store locations while handling higher transaction volumes. Well-chosen IT solutions don’t just make onboarding for seasonal employees easier — above all, they ensure uninterrupted sales continuity and deliver an engaging, consistent shopping experience across every channel.
1 Polish Bank Association, “Poles’ Holiday Wallet 2026”, p. 7
2 https://www.waszaturystyka.pl/raport-pot-74-proc-polakow-planuje-wakacyjny-wyjazd-krajowe-kierunki-nadal-pierwszym-wyborem/
3, 4, 5 https://marketintelo.com/report/pop-up-retail-store-market
6 https://www.zabka.pl/zabka-na-wakacjach-siec-z-rekordowa-liczba-sklepow-sezonowych/
7 Pollster, „Polacy na wakacjach 2026”, s. 6, https://pollster.pl/files/Polacy-na-wakacjach-2026-Pollster.pdf
8 Tikrow, 2026, Temporary Work Market in Poland, p. 16
9 https://www.waszaturystyka.pl/raport-pot-74-proc-polakow-planuje-wakacyjny-wyjazd-krajowe-kierunki-nadal-pierwszym-wyborem/
10 Polish Bank Association, “Summer wallet of Poles 2026”, p. 12
11 Ibid.
