German e-commerce market 2019: €76.2 billion

The German e-commerce market had a total value of €76.2 billion in 2019. The market grew by 11.6% compared to the situation in 2018. Mainly, the growth of the German online retail industry is thanks to online shoppers who have increased their online spendings. Every third consumer now orders several times a week. Mobile devices are an accelerator of this growth as one in three orders is placed with a handheld device. Five years ago, the contribution of mobile spendings was just 20%, shows data from Bundesverband E-commerce und Versandhandel (Bevh).

The high number of total orders is also due to the fact that retailers and deliverers have become better in the eyes of customers. 94.5% of those surveyed said they were very satisfied or satisfied with their online shopping, compared to 93.9% a year ago. Gero Furchheim, President of the Bundesverband E-commerce und Versandhandel states that German e-commerce is in the fast lane. It is becoming increasingly efficient and most retailers are well equipped for continuing growth. This increases customer satisfaction which was visible in the 2019 results.

German e-commerce growth

All sorts of online sellers contributed to the turnover growth in 2019. Multichannel senders were clearly in the lead though (+13%). Online shops from stationary retailers grew significantly below market level (+8.2%). Catalogue sellers saw a very big increase (+18.1%) while pure online players and marketplaces grew almost equally (+10.7% and +10.8% respectively).

In the distribution of sales, not much has changed compared to 2018. Almost half (47%) of all sales are generated through online marketplaces. 35% is generated by multichannel providers and 15% to pure online players.

Based on the business results of 2019, the Bundesverband E-commerce und Versandhandel expects further growth for e-commerce this year. According to their 2020 forecast, due to the subdued economic outlook in 2020, it will be slightly lower at 10% than in 2019.