Germany: the European e-commerce giant

By Direct Link - With 84 million inhabitants, Germany is the second most populous country in Europe after  Russia. More than 80 percent of the residents are active online consumers. From an e-commerce perspective, this means that Germany has Europe´s largest online customer base.  Like many other European markets, Germany has undergone enormous development in terms of e-commerce. In 2010, the B2C- e-commerce revenue was 20,2 billion EUR, by 2022,  that number had risen to an impressive 97,4 billion EUR.  

According to the IPC* Cross-border E-commerce Shopper Survey 2022, 42 percent of German consumers shop at least once a week. The average for the 39 different markets covered in the survey was 34 percent.  

Amazon has a strong foothold in Germany 

Germany and the UK were the first European markets in which the American company established itself back in 1998. This long presence is probably the reason for the strong position they have in the German market today. The IPC study shows that a full 37 percent of German online consumers made their most recent purchase from Amazon. 

E-commerce delivery to home is the most favored option 

To pick up your e-purchased item yourself from a parcel box is a delivery option that is growing strongly in several European markets. However, that doesn’t seem to sit well with  German consumers. Here, some form of home delivery is by far the most appreciated option. Fifty-three percent say that they prefer delivery to home at your door, while 16 percent rather have it in the mailbox. Only 4 percent of German consumers state that they prefer to go to a parcel box. 9 percent of online consumers paid extra for faster delivery during  2022, which is well in line with the average in the markets covered by the IPC* study. *International Post Corporation

Direct Link is an international e-commerce logistics solution provider fully owned by  PostNord, the Swedish and Danish national posts. Direct Link is your contact for customer-specific delivery solutions and the distribution of e-commerce goods anywhere in the world.