German e-commerce sales fell 16.8% on Christmas Eve

The latest research shows that online sales in Germany fell 16.8% between October 1 and November 30 ( including Black Friday ) compared with the same period in 2021 , the first decline since researchers began keeping statistics in 2014. However , it was still a 13.1% increase compared to 2019.

As we all know, October and November are the eve of the holiday season , when consumers start preparing for the holidays and online sales usually rise . However, a study by the German Federal E-Commerce Association Bevh shows that this is not the case for the German e- commerce industry this year .

Data shows that sales of fashion products in Germany fell by 28.1% in October and November this year compared with 2021. Sales data for the same period in 2019 were basically the same . According to researchers, this shows that it is difficult for retailers to push price increases.

Compared with fashion, other categories have shown stronger resilience . Sales of food, medicine and pet products have still achieved growth this year . Sales of household appliances are also very stable . The declines in furniture, lighting and decorative products (down 9.1%) and home textiles (down 5.8%) are not very large .

Martin Grober, deputy general manager of Bevh, said: "Due to the impact of the epidemic last year , online sales growth was particularly strong. This year is completely different, and consumers ' willingness to shop has generally declined , especially in clothing and consumer electronics. The sales of these two categories have declined most significantly . "

In addition, a shocking finding in the study is that multichannel retailers have seen a significant drop in sales. Their online sales have fallen by 29.5% compared to October and November 2021, and even compared to pre- pandemic levels in 2019, they have fallen by 11.9%.

On the other hand , online D2C retailers saw sales drop by 23.4% compared to last year . However , compared to the same period in 2019, this figure increased by nearly 85%. Compared to the whole of 2019 , total sales were still up 71%.

Finally, Bevh also communicated with its members , who contribute 90% of the sales of B2C business in Germany . It is understood that the vast majority of members (74.3%) believe that consumer uncertainty is the biggest obstacle to their business at present, followed by increased procurement costs (64.3%), followed by increased packaging and logistics costs (50%).

At present, holiday season sales in Europe do not seem to be very optimistic. Cross-border sellers can adopt a more stable strategy during this period and not be blindly aggressive.

Germany

E-commerce