The German e-commerce industry generated revenues of €72.6 billion, including VAT, last year. Compared to 2018, online retailers' gross sales were €65.1 billion, representing an increase of almost 12 percent. An industry association also expects double-digit growth this year.
With rapidly growing sales, the e-commerce industry is succeeding in satisfying customer demands. 94.5 percent of respondents in a recent study were very satisfied or satisfied with their online shopping experience. Last year, 93.9 percent were satisfied with the shopping experience. The increase in sales can possibly also be attributed to the trend toward mobile shopping: One in three online orders is now placed via smartphones and tablets. Five years ago, this figure was less than 20 percent. The figures come from a study of the Federal Association of E-Commerce and Mail Order. Association President Gero Furchheim says:
"Germany's online retail industry is in the fast lane. E-commerce is becoming increasingly efficient, and retailers are well-equipped for further growth. The increase in customer satisfaction in another year of growth has impressively demonstrated this."
Double-digit sales growth expected for online retailers again this year
Multichannel retailers achieved the strongest growth in 2019. Shops that rely on multiple sales channels, such as online orders that can be picked up in-store, increased their sales by 13 percent. The online shops of brick-and-mortar retailers grew by just over 8 percent, below average. Pure online shops, so-called "online pure players," and online marketplaces each grew by almost 11 percent. Overall, 47 percent of sales came from online marketplaces, 35 percent from multichannel providers, and 15 percent from pure online shops.
Christoph Wenk-Fischer, Managing Director of the Federal Association of E-Commerce and Mail Order, says:
"The record year of 2019 has shown that digital business is the engine of commerce, and platforms are increasingly becoming the operating system of the entire value chain. Retail and wholesale will either go digital or disappear."
For this year, the industry association expects a 10 percent increase in sales and gross sales of online retailers of 80 billion euros.
