Small online stores in Germany see revenues decrease

A new analysis shows that since the third quarter of 2023, the median online revenue in Germany has decreased by 22 percent. At the same time, online stores with more than 1 million euros in annual revenue have grown 7.6 percent. But smaller shops, with revenues below 50,000 euros, have declined by 12.3 percent.

This indicates an increasing market consolidation in Germany, according to Uptain’s newest E-Commerce Market Study 2026. It is based on anonymized data from more than 3,000 online stores and more than 30 million users in Germany. The study gives insight into ecommerce in Germany, particularly in the differences between small and large online stores.

A similar report from July 2025 about ecommerce in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) showed similar results. At the time, the median online revenue of small stores had decreased 9 percent. It seems that this process has continued since then.

Median online sales increased in 2025

The median online sales were 10,247 euros in the first quarter of 2025. They rose to 11,305 euros in the fourth quarter of the year. However, the researchers say that this growth can mostly be attributed seasonal factors, like Black Friday and Christmas. And compared to the third quarter of 2023, there is a clear downward trend. The median has fallen 22 percent, as the median online sales was 14,510 at the time.

Compared to the third quarter in 2023, median online sales in Germany have fallen 22%

Market consolidation

When looking at shop size, the study reveals a pattern of market consolidation. As mentioned earlier, shops with revenues over 1 million euros per year grew 7.6 percent since the third quarter of 2023, while the smallest stores (with revenues under 50,000 euros), decreased 12.3 percent.

Median online sales of stores with annual revenues under 50,000 euros decreased 12.3%

In the mid-range revenue brackets, the picture is mixed. Stores with revenues between 50,000 and 100,000 euros grew 1.7 percent. At the same time, stores between 250,000 and 500,000 euros and those between 500,000 and 1 million euros were almost stagnant (respectively: -0.4 percent and +0.8 percent). The segment between 100,000 and 250,000 euros showed the strongest decline within the mid-range brackets, with a decrease of 2.4 percent.

The data shows that there is a shift towards large online stores, who are also increasingly cross-border operators like Temu, Shein and Amazon. This means that there are tougher competitive conditions for smaller online stores in Germany, which is reflected in declining sales. Recently, HDE indicated that these platforms cost the German economy as much as 2.4 billion euros.

Rising order values

While online sales have decreased, the median order value shows recent growth. In the third quarter of 2023, the median order value was 85 euros. Over the course of 2024, there was a decline to around 76 euros. But since then, it has been rising steadily, reaching 83 euros by the fourth quarter of 2025. This increase is most likely due to inflation, which results in higher product prices.