Germany is one of the most populated countries in Europe and the second biggest e-commerce market. Forecast revenue in the e-commerce market is expected to reach 82,155m USD in 2020, which compared to the last years will be one percent higher.
In 2019, the electronics sector accounted for 16.7% of the e-commerce market, while clothing 15.8%. Not surprisingly, there are many stores of these markets in the ranking of the best e-commerce stores.
The best of the bests
The top three have remained unchanged for a long time. – amazon.de, otto.de, and zalando.de, which together generate over 40% of total e-commerce sales. The fourth and fifth place belongs to the representatives of the electronics industry: mediamarkt.de and notebooksbilliger.de. FMCG and groceries can boast one of the highest growth rates – lidl.de placed at 6th positions reached 10.2% of total growth revenue. Also, shop.rewe.de is doing well with 150m USD of growth revenue, placed at 45.
Apple.com is the first non-german e-commerce in the ranking- it has placed at 7th position.
Clothing sector for the win
Revenue in the fashion segment is expected to reach 20,414m USD in 2020. In the clothes sector, the situation is as follows: bonprix.de and hm.de are leaders.
The German aboutyou.de store was also included in the ranking among with zalando-lounge.de. Clothing store – soliver.de closes the ranking with a score of 150m USD.
Drugstores are aiming high
The pharmacy and the health sector are doing very well. Here rule doc.morris (500m USD), douglas.de (300m USD) and medpex.de (150m USD). The big surprise is shop-apotheke.com with total growth revenue reached almost 13%.
Online and offline presence – does it pay off?
The trend to be present both online and offline does not subside. E-commerce is usually an addition to a brick and mortar store, it is a rare situation that an online store opens its branch in a city. It is worth looking at the giants included in the ranking – Media Markt, Saturn, H&M or IKEA. Each of them is present both online and offline. For smaller German brands, this solution also works. Mytoys.de is ranked 24 and cyberport.de is 10th.
German vs American
All data above show that on German market not only German e-commerce counts. Americans are also big players too. This proves how important the German market is for the global economy. Giants like Amazon have been at the top of German e-commerce rankings for years. Importantly, they persist there because, first of all, they have a German-language website (amazon.de is ranked 1st, amazon.com – 31st). Secondly, they have a well recognizable brand. And as a large company with a well-known name, they gain the trust of customers. Even as distrustful as those of Germany.
Top 30 German e-commerce (according to ecommerceDB)
| country | online store | eCommerce net sales (mln US $) | description | |
| 1 | DE | amazon.de | 13,754.5 | well-known sales platform thanks to which you can sell almost every item from various category |
| 2 | DE | otto.de | 3,889.4 | giant in the fashion and lifestyle industry |
| 3 | DE | zalando.de | 1,788.2 | world-famous online store with clothes, shoes and accessories |
| 4 | DE | mediamarkt.de | 1,327.8 | online marketplace for technology and electronics lovers |
| 5 | DE | notebooksbillinger.de | 1,143.4 | an online store which achieves the most search at “Electronics and Media” category |
| 6 | DE | lidl.de | 989,7 | well know groceries and household products store |
| 7 | US | apple.com | 26,191.7 (overall) | specialized at “Consumer Electronics” |
| 8 | DE | saturn.de | 750.1 | the younger brother of MediaMarkt, specialized at technology too |
| 9 | DE | bonprix.de | 717.4 | an online clothing store with a wide range of sizes |
| 10 | DE | cyberport.de | 688.2 | technology marketplace where you can find perfect notebook or smartphone |
| 11 | DE | alternate.de | 676.0 | here you can find items belong mostly to the “Lifestyle” category but the biggest sale is at “Electronics and Media” |
| 12 | DE | hellofresh.de | 665.0 | specialized at category “Food and Beverages” |
| 13 | DE | conrad.de | 642.2 | the nationally-focused online store sells mainly “Electronics and Media” items |
| 14 | DE | hm.com | 3,738.9 (overall) | clothing store which is well known both online and offline |
| 15 | DE | aboutyou.de | 593.5 | German fashion retailer belongs to Otto Group |
| 16 | DE | docmorris.de | 559.3 | on online store launched in 2000, achieves the biggest sales at “Food&Personal Care” category |
| 17 | DE | tchibo.de | 534.6 | an all-round online store with items belong to many categories eg. “Fashion” or “Toys and Hobby” |
| 18 | DE | baur.de | 490.7 | an online store which sells mainly items from the “Lifestyle” category |
| 19 | US | ikea.com | 2,508.7 (overall) | Swedish furniture store, popular all over the world |
| 20 | DE | shop-apotehe.com | 474.3 | launched at 2002 store, sells mainly “Personal Care” products |
| 21 | DE | thomann.de | 1,079.1 (overall) | the store specialized at “Hobby and Stationery” items, internationally focused |
| 22 | DE | qvc.de | 373.5 | sells not only in German but also Spain and France, specialized at “Toys and Hobby” category” |
| 23 | DE | zooplus.de | 374.9 | sells items from “Garden and Pets” category |
| 24 | DE | mytoys.de | 352.5 | the store sells products for children – toys and clothes |
| 25 | DE | esprit.de | 323.7 | fashion store, known all over the world |
| 26 | DE | douglas.de | 322.4 | drugstore which is popular not only online but also as a brick and mortar store |
| 27 | DE | klingel.de | 317.0 | a store offers products from different categories eg. “Fashion” or “Furniture” |
| 28 | DE | mindfactory.de | 314.7 | specialized at “Electronics and technology” |
| 29 | DE | bestsecret.com | 310.1 | clothing store, which is available as a stationery store only for club members |
| 30 | DE | breuninger.com | 301.3 | clothing store both for men and women |
source: https://ecommercedb.com/en/ranking/de/all
What about 2020?
The present shows that it is worth switching to digital. At a time when most brick and mortar stores were closed due to COVID-19 pandemic, websites are the only ones keeping them alive. It is worth learning what fate brings us.
No one can predict what trade will look like in 2020. We can say that it will probably be hard. For e-commerce, this means that stores have to take care of the clients so that they stay with them because the competition on the Internet will become much higher than ever.
