Sales in the second quarter exceed billion euro mark
The first positive signals at the beginning of the year have been confirmed: In the online trade in goods, from April to the end of June (not adjusted for inflation), there was a small increase in sales of 0,2 percent compared to the previous year, to currently 19,215 billion euros. This is the first market growth in two years. Calculated for the entire first half of the year, however, sales are still 1,2 percent below the previous year's figure, currently at 38,1 billion euros.
"We are observing growth in 12 of the 19 product categories we surveyed consumers," said Martin Groß-Albenhausen, Deputy General Manager of the German E-Commerce and Mail Order Association (bevh). In the first quarter, however, sales were still declining in 14 product categories. Above all, the recovery in the important fashion trade and the ongoing growth trend in everyday goods (+2,9 percent each) provided strong impetus in the second quarter. Online shoe sales grew above average by 3,4 percent to 1,012 billion euros.
It is striking that the entire recovery in e-commerce is currently being driven by marketplaces. This type of sender was the only one to grow in the second quarter (+2,3 percent) and has a market share of 55,0 percent for the entire year so far. "We are experiencing a platformization of e-commerce: online shops are increasingly opening up to manufacturers or other retailers as sales partners and are developing into marketplaces, the number and variety of which is continuing to grow," explains Groß-Albenhausen.
These increases are currently offset by declines among manufacturers' mail order companies (D2C trade), which sold 11,7 percent less through their own sales channels in the second quarter. Multichannel retailers generated 1,6 percent less sales through their own online shops. Here, as with manufacturers' mail order companies, however, it must be taken into account that the providers often also sell through platforms, so that from a company perspective a more positive assessment of e-commerce development could be drawn. Sales from traditional online shops (-0,6 percent) remained almost unchanged.
