Germany Warms to Virtual Retailing

In the first half of 2001, German consumers ordered goods to the total value of Euro 1.9 billion via the Internet. According to the latest results by the GfK Web*Scope panel, sales rose by more than 50% compared with the second half of 2000.

A total of 6.9 million Germans made an average of three online purchases in six months, spending on average Euro 83 per online purchase. Approximately half of the online shoppers did not just use the new medium once in the first six months, but on a repeat basis. One in twelve Internet users belongs to the group of "intensive buyers", who make at least one online purchase a month.

As before, more men than women use the Internet for their shopping. The typical online consumer is 20 to 39 years old, tends to come from households with more than one person and has a high net income per household.

Books and CDs continue to be the favourite product groups when it comes to online purchases, and are ordered by a huge number of e-shoppers. In terms of total sales, however, the strongest category is travel, with an average of Euro 400 being spent per booking, followed by PCs and PC accessories.

In three out of four purchases, the online customer only pays after receiving the goods, and the preferred choice of payment is by transfer. Amazon has further strengthened its position as the top supplier in Germany, with the two large mail order companies, Otto-Versand and Karstadt-Quelle, lagging behind.

The findings of GfK Web*Scope for the first half of 2001 are based on continous written surveys carried out both online and offline using a randomly selected sample of 10,000 Internet users. GfK Panel Services Consumer Research Web*Scope's e-commerce consumer panel continuously records data on online purchasing of consumer goods.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

• GfK Germany
• All news