E-commerce in Germany cannot evade the effects of war, rising prices and insecure consumers and is returning to familiar growth paths after double-digit revenue increases in previous years, says the German e-commerce and mail order retail association (bevh) regarding the first half of Q2. Consumer goods e-commerce sales as a whole fell 6.7 percent during the six weeks from the beginning of April until May 16, 2022, compared to the same period a year earlier. The declines affected all merchandise clusters, except everyday goods (e.g., grocery, drugstore, pet food). This cluster increased its online sales by 4.1 percent despite the poor consumer sentiment.
The biggest losers among the retail sectors from the beginning of April to mid-May were the DIY & flowers (-15.2 percent), cars, motorcycles & accessories (-14.5 percent) and electrical goods (-14.4 percent) segments. Apparel (cluster) fell 8.3 percent, hobby & leisure products fell 8.2 percent, and footwear fell 4.3 percent. Unfortunately, bevh does not provide separate statistics for sporting goods or sportswear.
One reason for the decline in overall sales is the performance of multichannel retailers (-11.7 percent). These retailers had already grown by “only” 8.2 percent by the end of 2021, after posting a 55 percent increase in the same period of 2020. By comparison, the market as a whole had grown by 19.4 percent at that time. However, regardless of the decline in sales, the long-term growth trend remains intact for multichannel retailers. Compared to 2019, pandemic sales are up 49 percent. Marketplaces (-5.7 percent) and pure online players (-3.7 percent) were able to keep their sales comparatively stable during the survey period (see shipper table). Compared with the comparative value from 2019, online retailers are still up 23 percent in 2022.
Even if declines are currently being recorded in e-commerce as a whole, the long-term growth trend in Germany’s industry remains intact, bevh says. If total sales are compared with the same period in 2019, shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic, a sales increase of 29.7 percent is recorded. The mood of the customers surveyed also shows that consumer behavior has not changed fundamentally: At least two-thirds (68.2 percent) of online shoppers (of all age groups) would consider it a restriction on their quality of life not to be able to order online. This sentiment is most pronounced among 40-49-year-olds and the 60plus target group.
