BEVH releases study on delivery volume in Germany

Bundesverband E-commerce und Versandhandel, better known as BEVH, and MRU have investigated the distribution of B2C parcels delivered across Germany. And the results show that there are significant differences depending on the products being shipped and the regions involved. Around half of all parcels delivered in Germany today are from business to consumers or vice versa.

The study concludes that the four strongest product groups (clothing, books, video&audio and consumer electronics) cover 54% of the parcel volume in the B2C industry. But the number of parcels is not homogenously distributed across the Central-European country. It shows strong differences depending on the region or the degree of urbanization.

Differences per region
For example, the number of clothing shipments is much higher in the rural Alpine foothills than in the Cologne region. And in Nuremberg and nearby regions there are on average more parcels being sent containing computer and accessories. But as BEVH states: “Not all variations can be attributed to standard explanations like the density of local retail. Instead, the results show that the purchasing behavior in ecommerce depends on multiple criteria of decision making that requires further analysis.”

In terms of time and place of delivery, customers tend to have strikingly individual conceptions of their needs, BEVH says. Package delivery on a certain day is greatly accepted, while this is not the case for same-day delivery within 90 minutes, says MRU’s managing director Horst Manner-Romberg.

New challenges for ecommerce and parcel delivery industries
“The growth of interactive commerce and ecommerce in particular confronts the parcel delivery business with new challenges”, the German federal association for ecommerce and catalogue retail states. It’s case to better get to know your customers and their needs, so you can tap many potentials in the future, Christoph Wenk-Fischer, general manager of BEVH, concludes.

The study “E-Commerce und Paketdienste” can be found here.