Online Retailing - Germany - July 2017
“Online retailing is highly developed in Germany but online sales account for just 10% of all retail sales, partly because online grocery retailing remains underdeveloped. But recent investment and innovation made food the fastest growing online product category in 2016. If German grocery shopping habits are going to change, it is going to happen soon, or it is unlikely to happen at all.”
– Thomas Slide, Retail Analyst
For our consumer research this year we asked questions on the following topics:
- Which devices consumers used to shop online in the last 12 months
- Membership of Amazon Prime
- Retailers used for online shopping in the last 12 months.
- Responses to a series of attitudinal statements relating to online retailers in general
- Reasons for not shopping online.
What you get
What's included
- Consumer Attitudes and Behaviour
- Market data
- Competitive analysis
- Risks and Opportunities
- What’s Next
- Market Trends
This market report provides in-depth analysis and insight supported by a range of data. At the same time, introductory and top-level content is provided to give you an overview of the issues covered.
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Market
Mintel provides a range of market information, frequently through the category level, including market size and forecasting, complete with market drivers that illustrate the forces that shape a category or market.
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Consumer
Mintel's proprietary consumer research provides our analysts with the attitudinal and behavioral data used to provide valuable insight to topical issues.
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Brand/Company
Mintel provides overviews of the top brands and manufacturers, and uses consumer research to explore attitudes and reactions to brands, as well as insight into what will resonate with consumers.
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Data
Market reports provide appendices of data to support the research and insight produced. Our tables of data are easily manipulated and downloadable to support your research needs and covers factors from consumer attitudes to market forecasts.

* This is a sample representation of the report layout and does not reflect the research included in this report.
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Table of contents
Overview
- What you need to know
- Areas covered in this report
- What you need to know
Executive Summary
- The market
- The economy
- Online sales
- Figure 1: Germany: online sales (incl.VAT), 2012-17
- Segmentation/What they buy online
- Figure 2: Germany: online sales by category, 2016
- Broadband access
- Leading players
- Key metrics
- Figure 3: Germany: leading online retailers’ shares of online sales, 2016
- The consumer
- How they shop online
- Figure 4: Germany: devices used to shop online in last 12 months, May 2016 and June 2017
- Where they shop online
- Figure 5: Germany: retailers bought from online in the last 12 months, June 2017
- Membership of Amazon Prime
- Figure 6: Germany: membership of Amazon Prime, June 2017
- Attitudes to online shopping
- Figure 7: Germany: what do online shoppers like about shopping online, % agreeing, June 2017
- What we think
Issues and Insights
- Amazon’s dominance set to grow further
- The facts
- The implications
- Could it be now or never for online grocery retailing?
- The facts
- The implications
- Amazon’s dominance set to grow further
The Market – What You Need to Know
- Online sales reach €52.7 billion in 2016
- Clothing and consumer electronics the biggest categories
- Broadband access hits 90%
- Smartphone ownership hits a new high
- Online sales reach €52.7 billion in 2016
Market Size
- Economy growing modestly
- Online sales and forecasts
- Figure 8: Germany: online sales (incl.VAT), 2012-17
- Figure 9: Germany: online sales (incl.VAT), forecasts, 2017-22
- Segmentation/what they buy online
- Clothing the largest category by value
- Consumer electronics follows on
- Food underdeveloped but growing
- DIY small but growing
- Drugstores growing sales steadily
- Figure 10: Germany: online sales by category, incl. VAT, 2016
- Economy growing modestly
Market Drivers
- Broadband access
- Figure 11: Germany: broadband penetration (as % all households), 2009-16
- Device ownership and internet access
- Figure 12: Germany: technology products personally owned, Q1 2017
- Figure 13: Germany: devices used to access the internet in the last three months, Q1 2017
- Online shopping
- Figure 14: Germany: percentage saying they have bought online in the last 12 months, 2012-16
- Broadband access
Leading Players – What You Need to Know
- Media-Saturn enjoys rapid growth
- Amazon cements its dominance
- Media-Saturn enjoys rapid growth
Leading Players
- Amazon dominates the sector
- Electrical retailers dominate leading retailers
- Otto Group expands through specialist shops
- Zalando continues its impressive growth
- Media-Saturn leverages its multichannel structure for growth
- A note on marketplaces
- Figure 15: Germany: leading online retailers, sales, 2014-16
- Amazon dominates the sector
Market Shares
- A good year for Amazon
- eBay continues to lose market share
- Growth in less-developed sectors is fragmenting the market
- Figure 16: Germany: leading online retailers’ shares of all online sales, 2014-16
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
- 93% have shopped online
- Online pureplays dominate
- 29% have an Amazon Prime subscription
- Wider range is the main reason for shopping online
- Those not shopping online prefer to touch products
- 93% have shopped online
How They Shop Online
- PC/laptops favoured for online shopping
- Figure 17: Germany: devices used to shop online in last 12 months, May 2016 and June 2017
- Young consumers shift towards devices
- Figure 18: Germany: profile of online shoppers by device used, May 2016 and June 2017
- PC/laptops favoured for online shopping
Where They Shop Online
- Online-only retailers dominate
- Figure 19: Germany: retailers bought from online in the last 12 months, June 2017
- Broad spectrum shop online
- Figure 20: Germany: profile of shoppers by retailer bought from online in the last 12 months, June 2017
- Smartphone use peaks among fashion specialists
- Figure 21: Germany: percentage that shopped online using a smartphone, by retailer, June 2017
- Online-only retailers dominate
Membership of Amazon Prime
- Figure 22: Germany: membership of Amazon Prime, June 2017
- Half of Amazon shoppers have never been a member
- Figure 23: Germany: Amazon shoppers, by Prime membership status, June 2017
- Young men most likely to be Prime members
- Figure 24: Germany: membership of Amazon Prime, by age and gender, June 2017
- Prime membership increases with income
- Figure 25: Germany: membership of Amazon Prime, by household income, June 2017
Online Shopping Habits and Attitudes
- Reasons for shopping online
- Wider range
- Price differential less important
- Figure 26: Germany: what do online shoppers like about shopping online, % agreeing, June 2017
- Different age groups shop online for different reasons
- Figure 27: Germany: profile of online shoppers by reasons for buying online, June 2017
- Reasons for not shopping online
- Reasons for shopping online
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
- Abbreviations
- Data sources
- STATISTISCHES BUNDESAMT – Wiesbaden
- EUROSTAT – Luxembourg
- EHI Retail Institute
- BEVH
- Abbreviations
Amazon
- What we think
- The focus on Prime
- The fostering of the next generation
- The white whale(s)?
- Amazon gets physical
- The threats?
- Company background
- Company performance
- Figure 28: Amazon.com Inc: group financial performance, 2012-16
- Figure 29: Amazon: estimated total retail sales, by European country (excl. VAT), 2014-16
- Retail offering
eBay
- What we think
- What has gone wrong?
- Not a retailer
- Where next?
- Company background
- Company performance
- Figure 30: eBay – Gross merchandise volume, 2013-16
- Retail offering
Otto Group (Multichannel Retail)
- What we think
- Why buy?
- Targeting new customer groups with specialist online shops
- First German company to test robot-delivered packages
- Problem-solving virtual assistance tool extended to more products
- Figure 31: Otto Product Assistant
- Shortcuts to make the choosing process faster, more relevant and more personal
- On-trend own brand strategy
- More personalised and dynamic marketing
- Company background
- Company performance
- Figure 32: Otto Group (Multichannel Retail): group sales performance, 2012/13-2016/17
- Figure 33: Otto Group: major brands within the Multichannel Retail segment, 2016/17
- Retail offering
Zalando
- What we think
- Mobile is at the heart of the business
- Prioritising delivery to drive customer loyalty
- Geo-localised delivery being trialled
- Moving from following to leading
- Integrated commerce links up online and offline channels
- Fulfilment service reaches out to brands
- Company background
- Company performance
- Figure 34: Zalando: group financial performance, 2012-16
- Figure 35: Zalando: key metrics, 2015-Q1 2017
- Retail offering
Online Retailing - Germany - July 2017