E-commerce market in Germany in 2024
The German e-commerce market is predicted to exhibit a CAGR of 4.5% between 2023 and 2027. We expect the number of packages on German roads to reach 4.6 billion this year.
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E-commerce market in Germany: facts and statistics
Already one of the biggest e-commerce markets in Europe, Germany is projected to see continued growth in the coming years. In 2023, the most recent statistics show that revenue from online sales in Germany reached €89.4 billion. In 2024, this figure is predicted to reach approximately €93.72 billion, suggesting that parcel numbers in the country are set to rebound after recent minor declines, reflecting global trends.
In 2022, parcel volume in Germany declined by 7%, recorded at 4.2 billion packages. However, as the country’s e-commerce market is predicted to exhibit a CAGR of 4.5% between 2023 and 2027, we expect the number of packages on German roads to reach 4.6 billion this year.
Overall, the German e-commerce market is in a strong position after some challenging years. But the country’s return to growth doesn’t mean that e-commerce in Germany is an easy market to succeed in. On the contrary, with competition to capture a piece of this growth intensifying, e-commerce firms in Germany need to offer customers a top-quality service to achieve reliable revenue figures.
The German e-commerce market is predicted to exhibit a CAGR of 4.5% between 2023 and 2027.
Germany’s favorite e-commerce carriers and categories
In an e-commerce market as well-established as Germany’s (the world’s sixth largest), there are several carriers that customers frequently turn to. These include the likes of DHL, DPD, GLS, UPS, Hermes, FedEx, and Kühne & Nagel, with DHL Group as the market leader.
Although DHL Group has worldwide coverage, it is responsible for 6.7 million parcel deliveries every day in Germany alone and achieved revenue of over €27.7 billion in the country across 2022. The company’s scale is, in part, the result of the flexibility it offers consumers, who can choose from a variety of different delivery options, including receiving parcels at home, delivery to a Packstation pick-up location, or another preferred location.
Other leading carriers boast similarly impressive figures. For instance, DPD, the second-largest international courier service in Germany, has maintained its market share through its commitment to innovation, particularly around contactless delivery and real-time parcel tracking. A variety of delivery options, including its standard service, Shop2Shop, and next-day shipping through its DPD Express service, have also been welcomed by customers.
As well as their favorite carriers, online shoppers in Germany also have several categories of items they commonly purchase. Recent studies inculcate that the largest proportion of e-commerce consumers in the country can be found in the electronics category, followed closely by fashion. Both categories of items have grown consistently in popularity over the years, with items in the beauty and furniture categories also performing well.
Germany’s most popular online stores by revenue, meanwhile, are amazon.de, otto.de, zalando.de, mediamarkt.de, and ikea.com. Unsurprisingly, technology heavyweight Amazon comes out on top here, with annual revenue in the country recorded at over $16 billion. Just below these leading players, however, there are a number of other online retailers that have carved out profitable e-commerce niches for themselves in Germany. For instance, Mindfactory, a retailer of computer notebooks, hardware and software, attracts more than 4 million online visitors a month in Germany and has received particular praise for the range of payment options it offers customers.
Read more: E-commerce market in Belgium in 2024
Sustainable delivery in Germany
As is the case in many other markets, sustainability is growing in importance for Germany’s e-commerce players. Given that a recent survey of German consumers found that many believe brick-and-mortar stores to be as or more sustainable than online ones, the e-commerce sector may have some work to do to promote its green credentials.
Based on information from other markets, a single parcel delivered in Germany creates approximately 600 grams of CO₂ emissions. Some carriers will offset this, but greater transparency is wanted by many customers regarding the environmental impact of their deliveries. In fact, reports indicate that Deutsche Post has called for mandatory labeling of the CO2 footprint of parcels sent by all parcel services.
Some carriers offer German customers sustainable delivery options like DHL’s GoGreen Plus service, which utilizes offsets, sustainable fuels, and electric delivery vehicles. DPD Germany also recently started a collaboration with nebenan.de, the country’s largest neighborhood platform, to increase the number of successful first-time deliveries and subsequently lower emissions. Pick-up points are also offered by many carriers and are used for around 7% of deliveries in the country. This is lower than in many comparable markets, however, with just 25% of Germany’s top 500 online stores offering a click-and-collect shipping service.
The future of e-commerce in Germany
Although the German market is sizable, there remains room for development. Further growth is, of course, possible and increased collection from pick-up points is certainly feasible. More sustainable options are also in demand.
At Paazl, our multi-carrier, all-in-one platform can help your cross-border e-commerce business make inroads within the German market. Our data dashboard, checkout widget, and other solutions will ensure German customers receive a positive delivery experience so one of the biggest e-commerce markets in Europe can become even bigger.
