E-commerce in Germany: First Revenue Decline in 2022

In 2022, Germany’s largest online shops recorded a revenue decline for the first time. A study estimates the losses to be around 2.2 billion euros.

According to an investigation, growth in the German online retail sector declined for the first time in 2022. Last year, the top 1,000 business-to-consumer (B2C) online shops saw a revenue decline of 2.8 percent (net, without price adjustment). This equates to a reduction of 2.2 billion euros, bringing the total net e-commerce revenue to 77.7 billion euros compared to the previous year, according to the “E-Commerce-Markt Deutschland 2023” study by EHI and ecommerceDB.

Some shops are struggling with “significant revenue declines,” according to Lars Hofacker, Head of E-Commerce Research at EHI, while others are appearing in the study for the last time due to business closures. Despite this, revenue among the top companies is still 1.5 times higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winners and Losers in German E-Commerce 2022

According to Lars Hofacker, there are also winners in German e-commerce. Particularly smaller shops in the new ranking show strong relative growth, expanding by 7.3 percent in 2022. Among the top ten winners in Germany is the clothing retailer About You, a subsidiary of the Otto Group, with a growth of 8.8 percent. Lidl follows with a 6.7 percent increase. Apple achieved the highest relative growth with an 18.2 percent increase, reaching a total revenue of 1.36 billion euros, placing the company fifth.

Otto itself ranks second among the ten most successful online shops in Germany, behind Amazon. Amazon experienced an 8.2 percent revenue decline but remains at the top with nearly 14.4 billion euros in revenue. Otto saw a revenue drop of 11.8 percent to around 4.5 billion euros.

The hardest hit was Media-Saturn-Holding. MediaMarkt recorded a revenue decline of 28.8 percent, and Saturn even saw a 33.1 percent decrease. Ikea also experienced a significant decline of 25.5 percent.

Consumer Electronics in Third Place

According to the EHI study, the consumer electronics sector ranked third in 2022 with an 11.7 percent share, behind clothing (18.3 percent) and generalists (30.4 percent). The ten largest online shops accounted for 38.2 percent of the revenue among the top 1,000 companies, while the ranks 11 to 100 made up another 32.5 percent of the revenue.

The Most Successful Online Marketplaces in Germany

According to the study, the three most successful online marketplaces in Germany by gross merchandise volume in 2022 were:

1. Amazon with 45 billion euros
2. eBay with 10.3 billion euros
3. Otto with 7 billion euros