Ecommerce in Germany was worth €83.3 billion in 2020

Ecommerce in Germany was worth 83.3 billion euros in 2020. This is an increase of 14.6 percent compared to the situation one year before. The growth is significant, as the average growth over the previous three years was ‘just’ 11.3 percent.

Of course, this significant increase in gross sales of goods in German ecommerce has everything to do with the outbreak of the coronavirus and the resulting lockdowns. Last year, ecommerce in Germany was worth 72.6 billion euros.

The new numbers come from ecommerce association Bevh, who also explains that last year, about one in eight euros of household expenditure on goods were spent online. And even though grocery stores, drugstores, and pharmacies remained open in Germany, goods such as groceries and pharmaceutical products still recorded the strongest growth in online retail.

1 in 3 online buyers is older than 60 years

Another interesting finding is that almost one in three online buyers in 2020 were older than 60 years. A year ago, this age group accounted for less than a quarter of ecommerce sales in Germany. In this country, now four out of ten online customers order more than once a week.

‘This development will not be reversed’

“The corona pandemic has significantly accelerated the development of trade towards ecommerce, and our industry has fulfilled its performance promise”, Bevh president Gero Furchheim said. “This development will not be reversed. The social and political debate must therefore fundamentally change its perspective: In the future, ecommerce and its processes will be the starting point from which customers begin their shopping. City centers and retailers need this digital foundation in order to offer their customers added value with their stationery offers. Urban development must finally face this reality and consistently involve those who shape the new trade.”

Ecommerce will be the starting point from which customers begin their shopping.