Poznan is one of the cities with the best developed commercial network in the country; it is the fifth largest trading market in Poland, both for the traditional trade and for the large-area one. According to the Central Statistical Office data, Poznan has 1.6 thousand stores and 78 petrol stations (each with 9 or more employees). In addition to shops with diverse range of products (including fruit and vegetable and fish ones), which account for one third of all Poznan's shops, specialized shops are dominating, especially those selling clothes (16%), convenience stores (14%) and bakery and pastry, and meat products (9 % each). They employ 15.2 thousand people, including the majority (one third) in convenience stores. Shops occupy sales area of 548 thousand sqm. Poznan is a city with the highest degree of saturation with modern retail space (640 sqm. per 1000 inhabitants). Large shopping centres of the biggest Polish and foreign retail chains are operating in the city: Auchan, Castorama, Carrefour, Decathlon, IKEA, Intermarche, Jula, Leroy Merlin, Media Markt, Neinver, OBI, Piotr i Paweł, Praktiker, Tesco. The major large-area wholesale centres are the German Makro Cash&Carry and Selgros, and the Dutch Eurocash. Some large shopping complexes also offer recreational and cultural services (among others, Centrum Sztuki i Biznesu Stary Browar, Centrum Handlowo-Rozrywkowe Poznan Plaza, Galeria Handlowa King Cross Marcelin, Galeria Green Point, Galeria Malta, Galeria MM i Galeria Pestka). New forecast for commercial real property by Cushman&Wakefield company indicate that Poznan will be the only large city in Poland, alongside Warsaw (and the Tricity), where both the demand for and supply of modern commercial area will be growing.

In Poznan, a modern wholesale marker, which meets the European standards, for fruit, vegetables, real and artificial flowers and foods is operating - Wielkopolska Gildia Rolno-Ogrodnicza, evolving since 1992. It is a fine example of a model solution of organization of sales of food, gardening and farming products in a large urban agglomeration.

An important role in providing local residents with food products is also played by city market places. In Poznan, there are 19 permanent and seasonal markets (including 17 retail ones) with 2.5 thousand sale places, covering an area of 199 thousand sqm.