Market

The ecommerce market is large and exhibits a high degree of growth. In Germany alone, ecommerce generated sales of € 15.5 billion in 2009 - according to a study conducted on behalf of the federal association for the German mail order sector (bvh). 


The community of online shopping fans in Germany grew in 2009 by a good 1.1 million, with the figure now standing at 32.5 million internet buyers. And online shopping is no longer an activity confined to young people in Germany: The proportion of over-60's placing online orders rose from 19 percent in 2008 to 28 percent in 2009, whilst the 50 to 59 age-group increased from 43 percent to 58 percent.



Market growth of 10% is anticipated. Thomas Lipke, member of the board and chairman of the bvh working group E-Commerce says "In the future we assume that the internet, as an order placement route, will establish itself as THE purchasing channel across all age groups, and that further growth can therefore be expected in the coming years.“



Forrester Research forecasts that 43 million people in Germany will be buying products on the internet as early as 2011, and the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO) anticipates further growth in online shopping in Germany.

Sources:
Bundesverband des Deutschen Versandhandels e.V.
Forrester Research
European Information Technology Observatory