Ecommerce in Germany was worth €85 billion in 2017

Last year, ecommerce in Germany managed to grow 9.5 percent compared to the situation in 2016. This has led to the online retail industry being worth 85 billion euros. It’s expected ecommerce in Germany will grow to 93 billion euros at the end of this year.

And if that happens, it means the online retail industry shows a growth rate of 9 percent this year. This is shown by research from the Ecommerce Foundation. After annual growth rates of 12 or 11 percent during the last couple of years, ecommerce in Germany isn’t growing as fast nowadays.

Germany still ranks third for business-to-consumer online turnover in Europe, with only the United Kingdom and France having a bigger ecommerce revenue. This year, 79 percent of the total German online population can be called an online shopper, which is a higher share than ever before. On average, online shoppers spent 1,515 euros at ecommerce websites in 2017.

Strong ecommerce supply chain

“Regarding infrastructure, Germany has an unbelievably sound ecommerce supply chain and has had so for several years. Ranking first in the Logistical Performance Index, Germany has been labeled as the number one in ‘efficiency of customs clearance processes, quality of trade- and transport-related infrastructure and easier quality of logistics services'”, the Ecommerce Foundation explains.

Online shoppers in Germany like to buy books/movies/music and games online (47 percent), clothing (43 percent) and consumer electronics (41 percent). “Books are also the most commonly purchased via mobile devices, as 61 percent of consumers said they had purchased a book via mobile last year.”

Product descriptions are important

Research also shows that 70 percent of German shoppers always do some of their research online before they make a major purchase. And if a consumer shops online, they think product descriptions are the most important criterium for determining which online shop to buy from.  Information about shipping terms and a clear presentation of the home page are also highly valued.

Quarter of online shoppers buy abroad

Last year, there was a 5 percent increase in consumers shopping online abroad. Now, one in four consumers who shopped online purchased from abroad. They mostly do this because of lower prices and the fact they can’t find the products they want domestically.

The most common payment methods offered by leading online retailers in Germany were e-wallets (91.3 percent), credit card (90.4 percent), conventional payment methods (78 percent) and invoice (76 percent). Interesting is that German consumers also got the question which payment methods they don’t use at all, and credit cards were number one, with 43 percent of respondents saying they never use them.