Market Overview

Germany’s Online Retail eCommerce Sales reached $29.1 billion in 2011 | 77% of the internet users shop online | Preferred Payment Methods: Payment on Account, MasterCard and VISA | Expected online sales growth 2012 around + 15-20%.

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Payment Market  | Germany

German online spendings increased in 2011: the annual online retail sales reached $ 29.1 billion | +18.5% compared to 2010 – excluding Mail Order-Telephone Order Sales. The German Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounted for + 2.7%. In financial crises times that is.

The number of internet users has grown to over 67 million | Germany holds 1st place (!) in Europe followed by Russia (64 M) and United Kingdom (52.7 M).  77% of the internet users purchase products and services online | The average annual purchase amount per German online shopper is $ 548.

The main online retail sectors are Clothing & Footwear ($6.7 billion), Media ($4 billion), Computers & Accessories ($3.2 billion), Consumer Electronics ($3.2 billion) and Furniture ($2.6 billion). Mail Order | Telephone Order still accounts for 35% of the total distance selling volume in Germany. The total online retail sales exceeded $43.3 billion in 2011.

ABOUT-PAYMENTS.com estimate the German online retail market to grow with another 15-20% in 2012 | despite financial downturn the total e-commerce volume will be around 52 billion USD dollar.

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Payment Market  | Preferred Payment Methods Germany

Recent survey by Market Research firm Forsa shows that ‘Payment on Account’ is the most commonly used payment method for online shopping in Germany. Not less than 58% of the online customers order online and pay afterwards. Credit card usage is lagging behind (34% use MasterCard, VISA or American Express). MasterCard is still supposed to be the preferred credit card brand with around 40% marketshare.

Consumers prefer the ‘Payment on Account’ because it provides ease-of-mind knowing that they can pay upon actual delivery of goods or services. It entails a higher risk to online merchants (debt collections and potentially higher percentage of returned goods), however, customers’ needs drive the payment methods offered.

ELV, GiroPay, SofortUberweisung (DirecteBanking), PayPal, RatePay and Cash on Delivery (COD) are frequently used payment methods by German e-tailers.

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Payment Market  | Payment Gateways Germany

Payment gateways or Payment Service Providers are the ‘hub’ for eCommerce merchants to various payment methods. Below a couple of Payment Gateways that operate on the German Market and support German (local) payment methods.

Computop | Ogone | docdata payments | Abilipay | Adyen | Card Gate Plus | EOS Payment Solutions | Euro Payment Group |

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Payment Market  | Merchant Acquirers

Merchant Acquirers are the financial institutions that authorize and settle payments. Payment Gateways are connected to these merchant acquirers. Below the Merchant Acquirers that are licensed to operate on the German Market.

Concardis | Deutsche Card Services | B+S card services | European Merchant Services | Airplus |

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Payment Market  | Industry Bodies

BVH | Bundesverband des Deutschen Versandhandel | The German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association

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Payment Market  | Research & Publications

yStats | German B2C E-commerce Report 2011

Reportlinker | e-Commerce Industry in Germany: Market Research Reports, Statistics and Analysis

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UPDATED: 13 October 2012