Thirty-One Percent of Revenue Goes on PostageThin moat

Allegro (ALE) — moat facet

The largest line in the accounts grew two and a half times faster than sales, and two-thirds of that was deliberate.

Cost of delivery was 3 578,9 million złoty in 2025 against revenue of 11 458,1 million1 — 31 złoty of every 100 the company earns, spent moving parcels.

What drove Polish delivery costs up 25,9% (pp)+14,4Smart! parcel volume+7,5Allegro Delivery expansion+6,9Supplier price increases-2,9Allegro managed volumesTwo of the three increases were deliberate; only the supplier rise was imposed
The company decomposes its own worst cost line, and two-thirds of the increase was a choice.

The growth rate is the problem rather than the level. Delivery costs rose 26,2% while revenue rose 10,5%2; on the Polish operations the figures are 25,9% against a smaller revenue base3. A cost line growing at two and a half times revenue is not a cost line, it is a trend, and at 31% of revenue it has enough weight to set the group's margin on its own.

The company's decomposition is unusually candid. Of the 25,9% Polish increase: 14,4 percentage points from Smart! volume, 7,5 from the expansion of Allegro Delivery, and 3,3 from higher unit costs — the last made up of supplier price increases at 6,9 points, partly offset by a 2,9-point benefit from Allegro handling more parcels itself4.

Read that carefully and two of the three components are deliberate. Volume growth and the deliberate expansion of Allegro Delivery are investments; only the supplier price rise is imposed.

That is also the reason to think the trend can break: the offset from managed volumes was already worth 2,9 points in its first serious year, and the managed share has since gone from 24% to 41%5.

The falsifier is the ratio itself. Delivery falling back below 30% of revenue would mean the investment phase is ending. Another year at 26% growth would mean Smart! costs more each year than the business it brings.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

A cost line at 31% of revenue growing at two and a half times revenue is a facet under active strain, whatever the strategic case for the spending.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Cost of delivery
3 578,9m zł, +26,2%

The largest expense in the company. Two-thirds of the 2025 increase was volume and deliberate expansion; only the supplier price rise was imposed. Watch cost per parcel rather than the total.

Source: Allegro.eu Annual Consolidated Report 2025 ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
A Fixed Promise Against a Variable Cost
Allegro sells delivery at a price it fixes for a year and buys it at a price the market sets every day.
References
  1. ReportedCost of delivery was 3 578,9 million złoty in 2025 against revenue of 11 458,1 million — 31 złoty of every 100 the company earns, spent moving parcels.
    Allegro.eu Annual Consolidated Report 2025 - management report, cost review (cost of delivery of 3 578,9m złoty up 26,2% against revenue growth of 10,5%, its decomposition into Smart! volume, the expansion of Allegro Delivery and unit cost, the InPost pricing headwind under an agreement expiring in 2027, marketing service expenses at 2,07% of GMV, staff and IT costs, and capital expenditure of 470,4m) — FY2025 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedDelivery costs rose 26,2% while revenue rose 10,5%; on the Polish operations the figures are 25,9% against a smaller revenue base.
    Allegro.eu Annual Consolidated Report 2025 - management report, cost review (cost of delivery of 3 578,9m złoty up 26,2% against revenue growth of 10,5%, its decomposition into Smart! volume, the expansion of Allegro Delivery and unit cost, the InPost pricing headwind under an agreement expiring in 2027, marketing service expenses at 2,07% of GMV, staff and IT costs, and capital expenditure of 470,4m) — FY2025 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedDelivery costs rose 26,2% while revenue rose 10,5%; on the Polish operations the figures are 25,9% against a smaller revenue base.
    Allegro.eu Annual Consolidated Report 2025 - management report, cost review (cost of delivery of 3 578,9m złoty up 26,2% against revenue growth of 10,5%, its decomposition into Smart! volume, the expansion of Allegro Delivery and unit cost, the InPost pricing headwind under an agreement expiring in 2027, marketing service expenses at 2,07% of GMV, staff and IT costs, and capital expenditure of 470,4m) — FY2025 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
  4. Reportedvolume, 7,5 from the expansion of Allegro Delivery, and 3,3 from higher unit costs — the last made up of supplier price increases at 6,9 points, partly offset by a 2,9-point benefit from Allegro handling more parcels itself.
    Allegro.eu Annual Consolidated Report 2025 - management report, cost review (cost of delivery of 3 578,9m złoty up 26,2% against revenue growth of 10,5%, its decomposition into Smart! volume, the expansion of Allegro Delivery and unit cost, the InPost pricing headwind under an agreement expiring in 2027, marketing service expenses at 2,07% of GMV, staff and IT costs, and capital expenditure of 470,4m) — FY2025 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThat is also the reason to think the trend can break: the offset from managed volumes was already worth 2,9 points in its first serious year, and the managed share has since gone from 24% to 41%.
    Allegro.eu Annual Consolidated Report 2025 - management report, business and operations (69 163,1m złoty of gross merchandise value with 68 282,4m third-party, 20,4 million active buyers, the Smart! programme past 7,5 million users in Poland at a relational net promoter score of 83, Allegro Pay financing 15,4% of purchases, Allegro One Box lockers, Ceneo and the PKO Bank Polski partnership) — FY2025 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026