German e-commerce sales in the first quarter exceeded 21 billion euros

According to a report by bevh, the German trade association for e-commerce and distance selling, e-commerce industry sales increased by 28% from January to March 2021 compared with the same period last year , reaching 21.09 billion euros , compared with only 16.482 billion euros in the first quarter of last year .

The association said that if calculated based on the average development level of 11% in the first quarter of last year , sales in the first quarter of 2021 would have increased by about 17% , but the growth rate in the first quarter of this year far exceeded the forecast.

The report shows that in the first quarter of 2021 , sales of categories such as pharmacy goods and medicines increased significantly . These products could have been purchased in physical stores, but due to lockdown measures, people had to shop online.

In addition, food sales in the first quarter increased by 84.5% year-on-year to 666 million euros , which was only 361 million euros in 2020. Therefore, this category of goods once again ranked first in " absolute growth " . In addition , online sales of clothing in the first quarter increased by 29.9% overall to 3.956 billion euros , an increase of approximately 900 million euros over the same period last year .

According to the largest e-commerce consumer research data in Germany , consumers also maintain a high demand for DIY materials , household goods and office supplies . The sales of furniture, lamps and decorations were 1.534 billion euros, an increase of 28.9% over the same period last year. Household goods and electrical appliances increased by 58.2% over the same period last year to 1.748 billion euros , and household and home textile products achieved a 41% increase to 464 million euros.

Christoph Wenk-Fischer, CEO of bevh, said: Even without the boost from the pandemic , the e-commerce industry would continue to maintain its rapid growth momentum . Consumer satisfaction with online shopping continues to be as high as 98%, which is a good proof of this .

The report also pointed out that not all e-commerce industries achieved growth in the first quarter of 2021. Due to restrictive measures imposed by the epidemic, consumers rarely booked hotels, travel tickets, and travel tickets online . Sales of digital services in the first quarter were only 1.129 billion euros , a decrease of more than 70 %. This was compared with a decrease of only 13.4% in the same period last year .

Germany

bevh

E-commerce market