ABOUT US OUR EXPERTS NEWS SERVICES PUBLICATIONS CAREERS CONTACT HOME PUBLICATIONS Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel (Bevh) THE IMPACT OF E-COMMERCE ON THE GERMAN ECONOMY Since the first products were sold online, e-commerce has been evolving rapidly in scope and coverage, becoming an increasingly important part of the economy growing at 14% annually within the last five years in Germany. The main conclusions of our study are: E-commerce has fundamentally changed the nature of the products being sold and the transactions taking place; what started largely as a business-to-consumer (B2C) model is now much more driven by business-to-business (B2B) transactions that generate three to four times larger online revenues in Germany today Online marketplaces, making up almost half of German B2C transactions, level the online playing field between SMEs and their larger counterparts; while larger online companies sold around 20% online, the smallest companies sold almost 30% through web shops and apps in 2018 The development of e-commerce is creating economic value through the ability to tap into wider markets, which increases competition, scalability and specialisation options; It is estimated that productivity gains from e-commerce could amount to 0.15% of GDP Consumer welfare is increased by the access to a wider array of comparable products and new digital services being developed; the consumer welfare gains from e-commerce have been estimated to amount to 2-3% in Germany. The footprint of e-commerce extends throughout the value chain, corresponding to 2.9% of total German GDP with 1,260,000 people employed - in 2019, 15% of revenue in retail and wholesale sectors was generated through e-commerce Today, 87% of German consumers expect companies to have an online portal, while 67% of new start-ups operate through a purely digital business model, which represents a 5-percentage point increase compared to the previous year; all indicators suggest that the journey ahead for e-commerce will see continued growth in both scope and scale Increased opportunities to create customer centric products and experiences through technology advancements are expected to take e-commerce up and beyond its current scope and scale in the years to come, where the online channel will shape our understanding of commerce further. The study is commissioned by Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel (Bevh) “ Thanks to Copenhagen Economics we succeeded in capturing the importance of our industry in figures for the first time. We are happy that our choice fell on CE, who have demonstrated excellent knowledge of the E-Commerce industry and have made a valuable, objective contribution with their view on our industry from the outside. DANIELA BLEIMAIER - BBUNDESVERBAND E-COMMERCE UND VERSANDHANDEL (BEVH) DOWNLOAD AUTHOR(S) Helge Sigurd Næss-Schmidt Bruno Basalisco Neil Gallagher Katrine Poulsgaard Morten May Hansen Laura Virtanen RELATED WORK European Commission E-commerce and Delivery The Facebook Company Digital transformation in business European Policy Centre and its Partners The Economic Impact of a European Digital Single Market Google, Developers Alliance Jobs in Apps The Facebook Company Empowering the European business ecosystem Amazon The economic opportunity from accessing online selling in the EU's peripheral areas Google Google's hyperscale data centres and infrastructure ecosystem in Europe Governments of Ireland, Denmark, Finland and the Czech Republic Making EU trade in services work for all Delivery Platforms Europe Study of the value of flexible work for local delivery couriers RELATED LINKS Read more on Bevh's website COPENHAGEN Langebrogade 1 DK-1411 Copenhagen VAT number: DK25262441 CONTACT STOCKHOLM Lilla Nygatan 14 SE-111 28 Stockholm VAT number: SE516405041001 CONTACT HELSINKI Hämeentie 11 FIN-00530 Helsinki VAT number: FI29062416 CONTACT BRUSSELS Maison de la Radio Place Eugène Flagey 18 BE-1050 Brussels VAT number: BE0674684785 CONTACT Privacy Notice ALL RIGHTS RESERVED @ 2021 COPENHAGEN ECONOMICS FOLLOW US ON Hard facts. Clear stories COOKIES We use cookies to give you the best possible experience with our website. By using our site you agree with our cookie policy OK