ICTs

Online consumption in Germany

In total, on-line shopping accounted for €16.8Bn of German consumer expenditure in 2007. German consumers spent most money on clothing and shoes: €3.9Bn which is about 40 per cent more than in 2006. €2Bn was spent for media such as music and books (2006: €1.8Bn) and another €1.2Bn for electronic articles (2006: €1.4Bn). Digital services such as downloads or online tickets accounted for € 5.9Bn although 2007 was the first year they were separately measured. Within this category, 37% was accounted for by train, flight tickets and car rental; 34% by travel and lodging; 13% by event ticketing; 9 % by entertainment (e.g. mp3-files, ringtones and games) and 2% for computer software.

Like the rest of Europe, German on-line retailing is dominated by E-bay, Amazon and the Otto Gruppe. The leading on-line retailers provide their goods on the internet and via catalogues. The latter reinforces the brand image, adding comfort to consumers that the retail group has a long history in selling and shipping (e.g. Otto, Quelle). For these companies, turnover generated by on-line selling grew 8% from 2006 to 2007, to €4.2Bn, in sharp contrast to their overall turnover which decreased by 0.5% on average. The catalogue / on-line retail companies are followed by so called “Ebay-Powersellers” (professionals selling on Ebay) accounting for €2.5Bn (€1.99Bn in 2006) and by pure internet retailers accounting for €2.4Bn (€2.5Bn in 2006).