Marketplaces Are Booming, and E-Commerce Sales Set a Record in the DACH Region

Not only was the e-commerce trade volume in the German-speaking regions higher than in any other region in Europe. But last year, it also exceeded the never-before cracked € 100 billion mark. This means an e-commerce record in the DACH region with average spending of approximately € 1,000 per capita on goods purchased online throughout the year.

The B2C segment grew significantly in Switzerland, jumping up by 27.9%, followed by Austria (+17.4%) and Germany (+14.6%). The e-commerce share in retail continues to rise steadily in all three markets.

In 2020, Swiss consumers bought goods with a total value of € 11.84 billion. Over the course of six years, online sales in Switzerland have doubled. In Austria, online sales were worth € 8.5 billion, and e-commerce in Germany was worth more than € 83.3 billion.

Mobile food ordering

What factors stand out from the statistics? Firstly, the online turnover generated through mobile devices in Austria has increased by more than 50%, highlighting the importance of responsive mobile websites. Secondly, the sector showing the most significant increase was food even though this was one of few business sectors remaining open via the brick and mortar channel throughout the pandemic.

Marketplace Boom in Germany

In Germany, almost half of all online trade, in 2020, was generated on platforms. For example, Shopify, but also on marketplaces, such as Amazon. This development is based on an increased emergence of smaller shops and players who can participate in e-commerce easier thanks to the different marketplaces. The relevance of marketplaces also for the bigger players becomes evident when looking at Amazon. Almost half of the top 1,000 Online-Shops do use the market leader as an additional distribution channel.