Digital Commerce in Germany

PROSPECTS

Retailing industry continues to drive digital commerce

In Germany, digital commerce is becoming increasingly important as online and offline platforms become more and more intertwined. In 2018, consumers of all age groups routinely used digital platforms, both social media and online shops, to make purchasing decisions.

German TV providers are catching up

Besides the enormous increase in digital streaming services and their adoption rate, Germany’s traditional TV providers are adjusting their strategies gradually towards digitalisation. For example, stock exchange-listed Pro7, Sat1 Media and Discovery (host of channels such as DMAX and Animal Planet) recently announced the launch of a new streaming platform in the first half of 2019.

Lodging digital purchases lagging behind but for a reason

While players in the lodging business such as Airbnb represent the pioneers when it comes to payment and digital commerce, the hotel industry in Germany appears more reluctant to grasp digital trends. One reason for this, according to industry experts, is the fact that the German hotel industry can be seen as fragmented, but more importantly, it is mainly driven by medium-sized and small chains or often even individual operators in the countryside.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Amazon as a digital pioneer and superpower

If a company wants to compete on the German digital market, it has to compete with the US tech giant Amazon. The company, which started as a book store, has diversified into more and more related industries such as groceries and digital streaming (eg Amazon Prime Video) while leveraging in-house capabilities.

Strong entries in the digital wallet market

Since summer 2018, the digital wallet solution Google Pay entered the market, which is backed by the US tech giant Google Inc. Apple is also set to introduce a digital wallet in Germany called Apple Pay.

More activities in German car sharing arena

As already indicated in the digital commerce in a remote environment case study, the German competiton agency recently approved Daimler and BMW’s joint venture effort. That being said, it should be noted that approval from the US competition agency is still due.

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