‘Ecommerce Germany will rise to €68 billion in 2019’

Ecommerce in Germany grew 9.1 percent last year and was worth around 63 billion euros. For this year, a further increase of almost 9 percent is expected. This would mean ecommerce in Germany will grow to 68 billion euros at the end of 2019.

The prediction comes from IFH Köln and is a lot more optimistic than previous predictions from  Handelsverband Deutschland, which forecasted the German online retail industry would be worth 58.8 or even 57.8 billion euros.

IFH Köln says the online growth rates are declining, while the absolute growth remains stable. The absolute growth was almost 5.5 billion euros in 2017, 5.2 billion euros last year and will be probably be 5.4 billion euros this year.

FMCG and DIY are among the growth drivers

According to IFH Köln, the online growth drivers are, just as in previous years, the fast-moving consumer goods, the DIY & Garden sector and the Home & Furniture goods. “The growth weakness of the fashion and consumer electronics markets in the retail sector as a whole, also have an impact on online retail”, the German institute explains.

These industries are losing market share in online trading, in favor of smaller sectors, such as the online sales of bicycles, furniture and personal care & cosmetics.