E-commerce continued to be the main story in retailing in Germany in 2021, continuing the strong growth momentum from the previous year amidst changed consumer behaviour and a digital pivot amongst retailers. While the extended lockdown in the first months of the year provided a particularly strong boost to growth, online sales growth remained at a high level even following the reopening of store-based retailers in June, as there was a degree of return to stores, but in addition, a sizeable proportion of consumers continued to make some, or many, purchases online.
In 2021, Amazon remained a key beneficiary of the ongoing shift online in Germany. With a growing consumer focus on e-commerce, Amazon is seen as particularly convincing due to its relatively low prices, rapid delivery and convenient purchasing process overall.
Drugstores/parapharmacies and chemists/pharmacies are highly established channels in Germany, and were amongst the channels that could remain open during lockdown periods. Nonetheless, they have not been immune to the e-commerce threat, which comes particularly from online pharmacies, as opposed to generalist e-commerce.
Over the forecast period, e-commerce in Germany is expected to remain on a strong growth path. This is partly due to the impact of the pandemic, which fundamentally changed consumers’ shopping preferences, as well as the availability and perception of digital shopping channels and services, each favouring online shopping significantly.
Amidst the continuous growth of online platforms, large brands in various industries have been increasing their efforts to reach consumers directly via their own online shops. This is intended to reduce their dependency on platforms such as Amazon, while at the same time increasing customer loyalty.
The pandemic-induced surge for e-commerce in Germany impacted store-based retailing, while coinciding with a growing consumer focus on sustainability. This has given rise to questions about the sustainability of continuous online growth, due to its detrimental impact on both the store-based retail landscape and the environment.
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Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the E-Commerce (Goods) industry in Germany with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
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Sales of consumer goods to the general public via the Internet. Please note that this includes sales through mobile phones and tablets (i.e. m-commerce). E-commerce includes sales generated through pure e-commerce websites and through sites operated by store-based retailers. Sales data is attributed to the country where the consumer is based, rather than where the retailer is based. The definition of e-commerce is agnostic as to where actual payment takes place; if an order is initiated online, it is considered to be an e-commerce transaction, even if the order is ultimately paid for in-store (or elsewhere). As a result, all ‘click-and-collect’ and ‘collect-at-store’ transactions are counted as e-commerce sales. E-commerce excludes sales of: (a) Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sales, although please note that sales between businesses and consumers (i.e. B2C sales) on sites such as eBay are included; (b) Sales of motor vehicles, motorcycles and vehicle parts; (c) Tickets for events (sports, music concerts, etc.) and travel; (d) Sales of travel and holiday packages; (e) Revenue generated by online gambling sites; (f) Returned products/unpaid invoices; and (h) Internet sales from direct selling companies, as these are tracked in Direct Selling market size/shares. Example e-commerce brands include Amazon.com, Zappos.com, Apple.com, iTunes, Rakuten, Tesco.com, Dell.com, Coles Online, etc. 3rd Party Merchant sales through online marketplaces, such as Amazon.com, eBay.com and Walmart.com, are included and split out in shares. 3rd party merchants are the summation of sales that come from businesses that are present on an online marketplace (e.g. Amazon, Alibaba). Marketplaces are websites that allow multiple merchants to sell on the marketplace website, with the marketplace operator processing the transactions, but many marketplaces provide offer other services as to help with shipping, handling, payment, and product storage. The marketplace is not the merchant of record legally, but for the sake of shares, sales from 3rd part merchants are attributed to the marketplace brand operator.
See All of Our DefinitionsThis report originates from Passport, our E-Commerce (Goods) research and analysis database.
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