Amazon's new Polish site goes live as online competition grows

WARSAW, March 2 (Reuters) - Online retailer Amazon's new Polish website went live on Tuesday morning, marking a significant intensification of competition in the country's booming e-commerce sector.

Amazon had said in January it would open a Polish site to better serve local customers previously reliant on its German version but did not set a date. The news had sent shares in Polish e-commerce firm Allegro sharply lower on the day.

Polish media reported the opening of the Amazon.pl site on Tuesday and it was operational when a Reuters reporter tried to access it.

Amazon did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

In a statement emailed to Reuters on Tuesday morning, Allegro Chief Executive Francois Nuyts said "At Allegro, we focus primarily on customers" but he did not directly refer to the Amazon move.

Poland's growing e-commerce market was given a further boost from online shopping during the pandemic and in October, home-grown eBay rival, Allegro, enjoyed a buoyant stock market debut, followed in January by parcel storage firm InPost . (Reporting by Alan Charlish, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Agnieszka Barteczko Editing by Keith Weir)