German ecommerce grew significantly last year. Online retail industry in Germany increased by 10.9% and was valued at 58.46 billion euros at the end of 2017. Notably, now very eighth of a euro spent in the German retail is online. This is according to German ecommerce association Bevh.
Online marketplaces in Germany are in rude good health and saw aggregated sales of €27.9 billion in 2017, that’s an increase of 4.4% year on year. The combined sales of multichannel retailers increased by 21% to €20.1 billion when considering online and mail-order sales, that is a tasty €3.5 billion more than in 2016.
It’s also interesting to note that shoppers outside of major metropolitan zones saw more significant growth than densely populated areas in Germany. 60% of online sales in Germany come from communities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants and demand is growing strongly in such places. In these communities sales increased by 17.1% in 2017. This doubtless speaks to the lack of opportunities and choice when it comes to shopping outside major cities. Germany has a surprisingly undeveloped shopping culture when compared to the UK. Not least with opening hours being less flexible, particularly with regards to Sunday and evening shopping times.
If you are a competent reader of German, you can find the full report here.
