| Allegro.eu S.A. | |
| Company Type: | Joint-stock company |
| Owner: | Cinven, Permira, Mid Europa Partners |
| Foundation: | Poznań, Poland (1999) |
| Location City: | Poznań |
| Location Country: | Poland |
| Key People: | Roy Perticucci[1] CEO |
| Area Served: | Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia |
| Industry: | Electronic commerce, Auctions |
| Products: | Online auction hosting, Online payment systems, Price comparison service, Online classified adverts |
| Homepage: | allegro.eu |
| Registration: | required to buy and sell |
| Type: | e-commerce platform |
Allegro (pronounced as /pl/) is a Polish online e-commerce platform.
It is managed by Allegro.eu S.A. (former: Allegro Group Sp.z o.o., Allegro.pl Sp. z o.o., Allegro Sp. z o.o.) which was formed in 1999 and subsequently purchased by online auction site QXL Ricardo plc in March 2000. QXL Ricardo plc changed its name to Tradus plc in 2007,[2] and was acquired by Naspers in 2008.In October 2016, Naspers sold the Allegro Group to an alliance of investor funds: Cinven, Permira and Mid Europa Partners. 12th October 2020 Allegro debuted on Warsaw Stock Exchange and immediately became the largest IPO in Poland's history.[3]
Immensely popular in Poland, Allegro was ranked 251st among the world's most used online websites by Alexa Internet, and was ranked 5th within Poland .[4]
In 2011, Allegro claimed to have over 11 million users.[5] In 2017, Allegro claimed to have over 16 million users and more than 20 million accounts.[6]
In 2022, Allegro bought Mall Group, Czech online retailer,[7] Mimovrste, Slovenia’s largest online retailer.[8] and WE|DO logistic company.[9]
According to company data,[10] 70 million items are sold through the Allegro platform monthly.
Allegro's 3 minute 2016 Christmas advertisement featured an elderly Polish man teaching himself English in order to communicate with the granddaughter he is about to meet for the first time when he visits his son in London for Christmas. It was highly praised on social media and has been viewed over 15 million times on YouTube.[11] [12]
Since 2018 Allegro has cooperated with the Polish anti-racist organization the “Never Again” Association to remove auctions of newly manufactured items with racist, fascist and antisemitic content.[13] [14] In 2018-2019 more than 3500 items with fascist and antisemitic content were removed through this cooperation.[13] These included numerous copies of contemporary editions of Hitler's “Mein Kampf” without critical commentary as well as books by David Irving, Leon Degrelle and Hennecke Kardel. The items offered for sale reported by “Never Again” included also newly made Third Reich flags and SS uniforms, signet rings and badges with Nazi swastikas, contemporary imitations of Nazi military decorations, records with Nazi music, lighters with an image of Hitler, or pendants with Mussolini.[15]