German e-commerce suffered a considerable decline during the past year, and the low levels of consumer spending significantly reduced the total revenues in Germany in 2023. 

Gross goods turnover fell by 11.8% in the full year 2023 to €79.7 billion, compared with €90.4 billion in the previous year. The share of goods e-commerce in total retail (excluding food but including pharmacy revenues) declined to 10.2% last year (in 2022: 11.8%).

Recovery momentum in digital services such as vacation bookings or concert ticket sales weakened, with an increase of 12.7% to €12.7 billion (compared with the previous year: + 39.9% to €11.25 billion). As a result, for the first time since 2020, the e-commerce sector (goods and services) turnover of less than €100 billion was achieved. In addition to revenues generated by telephone, fax, or other means of order, total revenues from online trade-in 2023 reached 93.6 billion euros.

Most retailers suffered the decline of German e-commerce 

For most retailers, 2023 will be remembered as a year of significant changes. Direct-to-consumer (D2C) retailers could maintain their growth on a more stable long-term basis. Although revenues fell by 11.1% last year, they are currently 62% above their pre-pandemic value in 2019. Marketplaces (-8.5%) and online retailers (-14.7%) were also significantly below the prior year's result in 2023 but are still 19.0% and 7.0% above, respectively, their pre-COVID value. 

The steepest revenue decline occurred in multichannel trading (-18.1%). It was noted that customers returned to using physical points of sale more frequently.

Customers' online shopping activity declined further last year. The percentage of regularly active online customers who purchased in the previous seven days fell to 34.3%. This is significantly less than in 2019, when the average annual percentage reached approximately 40%, below the average of the past four years.

A possible improvement for 2024? 

However, there are cautious signs of improvement in purchase frequency per customer, as reflected in the percentage of customers making more than one purchase in the last seven days. After a drop of approximately ten percentage points since the first quarter of 2022, this value has stabilized and increased slightly over the past three quarters, reaching 35.9%.

The willingness to buy used but in good condition ("preloved goods") is notably high among young people and families, especially as online trading offers the best access to a wide range of buyback providers. 

Among 19-29-year-olds, 18.4% of respondents reported buying used goods "often" and 31.9% "occasionally" on the Internet. Similar acceptance is observed among 30-39-year-olds, with 11.7% and 40.1% of respondents, respectively.

Caution towards cheaper foreign suppliers is also decreasing: When asked if they would be willing to shop at foreign stores if prices were lower, 22.1% "strongly agreed," much higher than in the 2022 comparative measurement (16.8%). Overall, 61.0% of customers would currently "somewhat" or "totally" prefer a foreign supplier if the purchase were cheaper.

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Finland's e-commerce is growing. Currently, it is the 38th largest market for e-commerce, with a predicted revenue of US$8,215.4 million by 2023, placing it ahead of Nigeria.

Revenue is expected to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 8.8%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$11,509.1 million by 2027.

Finland is steadily growing as an attractive market for e-commerce brands and companies. But what drives the Finish consumers? The main factor influencing the willingness to buy is quality. 

The origin of the product or brand is also important. The Finnish also look at whether a given product complies with European standards. 

It is proof of quality for them. Prices in Finland are quite high, making the average shopping cart more expensive. The e-commerce sector is constantly developing and accounts for up to 10% of all purchases from retailers. Finns use the intent not only to shop but also to compare prices. 

Domestic products are in demand, and one effect of global brands is gaining more and more fans. For these consumers, user experience is very important therefore, if you want to conquer the Finnish market, you must take care of it.

Ecology is becoming an increasingly important factor influencing the purchasing decisions of Finnish consumers. Sales of food and organic products are growing. Respect for the environment is fundamental to Finns. The second-hand market, including the Internet market, is also increasing.

Payment methods for Finland’s e-commerce

In Finland, banks transfer dominates the payment market. Verkkopankki is a bank transfer system that has won the hearts of Finnish consumers. As many as 76% of Finns believe the possibility of making direct payments with the bank is very important. 

Despite the clear favoring of bank transfers, banks are trying to diversify their payment offer. Consumers are afraid to pay with cards for online purchases because it requires providing data – 16% of Finns cite precisely concerns about the security of data in terms of preferred payment methods.

Finns are very distrustful about payment and their data. Unfortunately, this is due to the increase in this type of crime in the country. 

Digital payments are implemented gradually – digital wallets account for about 12% of payments. PayPal dominates in this field – it covers 10% of payments in e-commerce.

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According to a report by ecommerceDB amazon.com produces 50% of Amazon's Gross Merchandise Volume. 

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Amazon was recently named the most valuable brand in the world. It is widely considered the most successful online store in Western countries, such as the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. 

It is also one of the largest employers worldwide and outperforms retail heavyweights such as Walmart on several criteria.

Yet amazon’s revenue comes from different streams, including cloud services, advertising, and subscription. From all these sources is, the marketplace business the one that provides the best results, measured by Gross Merchandise Volume. 

amazon.com: the core business according to Amazon's Gross Merchandise Volume

In 2021, Amazon generated more than $103 billion from third-party selling services, a share of total revenue that has grown steadily in recent years. Yet the total GMV produced by Amazon's various marketplace URLs is much higher. 

To dig even deeper into Amazon's marketplace business, ecommerceDB has prepared a detailed breakdown of GMV numbers by Amazon's top domains:

• Amazon's leading marketplace URL is the .com domain; as of the $684 billion in total GMV that Amazon generated across its marketplaces, amazon.com accounted for 53% or a total of $365 billion in 2021. 

This is not surprising, as the .com domain is Amazon's primary URL and is active in many countries, including some with a local URL. 

Of the local domain:

• , Japan, Germany, and the UK have the strongest Amazon markets. amazon.co.jp, amazon.de, and amazon.co.uk together produce about 26% of the total market GMV. 

In terms of GMV growth, Amazon's top 5 URLs rank differently:

• amazon.ca may still be small in terms of GMV share of Amazon's total market, but the Canadian URL is Amazon's top market in terms of GMV growth. 

Between 2020 and 2021, amazon.ca grew by more than 33%, outperforming Amazon's other top URLs by a very wide margin. 

• With 25% growth, amazon.co.jp ranks second.

Together, these two URLs primarily drive Amazon's average GMV growth of 22%. However, it is still notable that the top 5 URLs grew at double-digit rates between 2020 and 2021. This has helped Amazon secure its position as the world's largest marketplace, extending its lead over Chinese marketplaces Taobao and Tmall.

Not all peaches and roses 

Recently Amazon's CEO, Andy Jasy, announced in a statement that the job cuts due to the crisis facing the sector - due to economic uncertainty - will affect more than 18,000 workers.

This figure is significantly higher than the 10,000 announced by The Wall Street Journal in November, when the Seattle company began to lay off employees in the commercial area, recruitment, and device retailers.

The truth is Amazon is struggling to reduce its operational costs amidst a looming global recession. And the layoffs announced will most likely be followed by a second group of measures to contain and reduce logistics and operational costs, such as a removal of the ‘free returns policies’ or higher costs for Amazon Prime subscriptions, among other measures the experts believe could be announced during 2023. 

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Leiden, The Netherlands, January 6, 2023 - ChannelEngine – the leading marketplace integrator – announces Ed Barrett as its new Chief Revenue Officer, effective January 9, 2023.

A commercial leader operating in the tech sector for over 20 years, Ed has a wealth of experience in go-to-market models and growth strategies, an understanding of the evolution of commercial channels, and an overall interest in commerce. A people-centric leader, Ed has built teams across international markets to drive exponential growth in companies such as Google Cloud and HubSpot.

Before joining ChannelEngine in January 2023, Ed was Vice President (EMEA) Sales for HubSpot for almost 6 years. Before HubSpot, Ed was Head of the Google Cloud worldwide SMB Sales encompassing the online, inside, and partner sales channels. He joined Google from IBM in 2012, where he led worldwide sales for one of IBM’s Cloud solutions. Ed previously held several commercial roles with IBM in storage, IT services, and strategy. 

“ChannelEngine is at an exciting phase of development right now: since our $50 M series B funding, we've expanded rapidly and are building strong, collaborative teams. Ed’s expertise fueling growth at Google Cloud and HubSpot will help ChannelEngine strengthen partnerships, develop strategic alliances, and expand our international sales presence.” - Jorrit Steinz, CEO, ChannelEngine       

“Ambition is essential for any business to grow, and I see plenty of it at ChannelEngine. My goal as CRO is to support this ambition and build on ChannelEngine’s foundation of strong and healthy growth. I’m looking forward to applying my previous experience at HubSpot, Google, and IBM to create and implement data-led strategies that will generate rapid and sustained growth for ChannelEngine and its clients.” - Ed Barrett, Chief Revenue Officer, ChannelEngine

Originally from Ireland, Ed has lived and worked in the UK and the US, engaging clients from every continent. 

A graduate of Marketing Management from Trinity College Dublin, Ed later received his MBA from Henley Management College. He has also held board-level posts in charities focused on bridging the ‘digital divide’ by helping organizations and individuals unlock their full potential through access to digital innovations and tools.

ChannelEngine's story began in 2013 when we saw an opportunity to connect e-commerce businesses with global marketplaces. Our 15+ years of experience helped us build the most complete marketplace integrator and now, almost 10 years later, we facilitate the sale of over 6 million products from 8,100 brands on 200+ sales channels.

ChannelEngine is headquartered in Leiden, The Netherlands, and has offices in Munich, Dubai, Singapore, Melbourne, New York, and Toronto. Our clients include Philips Domestic Appliances, Bugaboo, Hunkemöller, Brabantia, Bosch, JDE, and Reckitt.

For more information contact: pr@channelengine.com

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“We are very proud of our first half results: They reflect strong customer momentum with strong growth at scale. Despite ongoing investments into our long-term growth strategy, our business showed increased strength and profitability,” said Rubin Ritter, member of the Management Board.

Zalando continues to invest in its fulfillment capabilities. A logistics hub in Lahr is being constructed where test operations have already commenced. The company’s first international satellite warehouse in Stradella, Italy, which started operations in early 2016, already fulfills 60% of Italian orders.

The number of active customers grew to a record 18.8 million by the end of the second quarter, with average orders per active customer reaching an all-time high of 3.3 orders per annum.

Zalando’s assortment of over 1,500 international brands ranges from popular global brands, fast fashion and local brands, and is complemented by private label products. Zalando operates localized websites in 15 European markets: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland and the United Kingdom.

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