Online sales rise to over EUR 15.3 billion

monday 12 march, 2007

Last year, German consumers spent over EUR 15.3 billion on goods and services bought directly online. This represents a sharp increase over the year before, giving the internet continued supremacy as the sales channel with the most dynamic growth rate.

Last year, online sales totaled more than EUR 15.3 billion. This corresponds to a rise of more than 18% in comparison with 2005, when German consumers bought goods and services to the tune of almost EUR 13 billion on the internet. With an increase of this order of magnitude, the internet continues to reign supreme as the sales channel with the most dynamic growth rate in recent years.

The trend towards more expensive products

This sales success is attributable to a number of factors. In addition to the increase in the number of online sales, the spend per item has also gone up. The increased level of per capita spending now comes less from the original media products with an internet affinity, such as books and music, and more from items like electrical goods, clothing, domestic goods and travel, which are more expensive as a rule. These products have recorded above-average growth rates, making the online share of total market sales increasingly important.

Just under one third of all travel and event tickets are currently bought online, with the online share of total non-food sales now amounting to 7%.

In spite of what has meanwhile become a bewildering proliferation of online outlets, a number of top online suppliers have emerged: universal shops Amazon, Ebay, Neckermann, Otto-Versand, Quelle and Tchibo dominate the non-food market sector with a share of almost two thirds of the total. In 2006, with a share of 21%, the travel segment, which includes Die Bahn (German railways), Ebay, Expedia, hrs and Opodo, continued to expand its share of online sales.

Source: GfK WebScope Survey