The German interactive retail sector has clearly outperformed the overall German economygenerating double-digit growth of 11% during the last two years with its business climate at a
record level, according to a new study by the German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Association(bvh).“The expansion course going on for several years is unstoppable and business indicators such asincoming orders, sales, profits and workforce are developing in a positive way. The number ofcompanies is also rising,” bvh explained.
The new annual study, “The economic situation in German interactive B2C trade 2011/2012”,produced in cooperation with Creditreform Boniversum GmbH (Boniversum), reviews the businesssituation and expectations of German interactive retailers and their use of social media and socialcommerce. For this year’s study, 260 interviews were carried out with decision-makers in March 2012to obtain a comprehensive picture.
The positive business climate within interactive trade is reflected in all sub-sectors, with the‘household’ and ‘leisure’ sectors showing the most positive business outlook, followed by technicalproducts and the clothing sector. As the online and distance trade operates regardless of location,business is developing strongly across the country in all regions.
The industry’s sales volumes are growing year by year contributing to the positive development.Now almost completed, the first half of 2012 has been similarly successful as the previous yearwith the growth trend expected to remain stable during the second half of 2012, bvh pointedout.
Siebo Woydt, Managing Director of Boniversum, confirmed: “The expectations of online and mailorder companies with regard to the business and economic climate are extremely positive. Especiallyin comparison to the German economy it becomes clear that all the sectors of interactive trade arewell ahead of the German average.”
“The great success of the industry is due to the fact that the positive development of the pastyears also continues in the currently difficult economic times. This can certainly be explained bythe industry accelerator e-commerce. However, the industry also stands out through flexibility andthe necessary know-how related to the business policy of the decision makers. They make it possiblefor the industry to outpace the overall German economy,” bvh executive director ChristophWenk-Fischer said.
In line with the continuous growth, the willingness of German interactive retailers to invest iswell ahead of the national average with 81% during the first quarter of 2012 focusing on innovationand capacity expansion. In contrast, only 51% of all German retailers indicated that they wouldmake investments in the coming months.
Meanwhile, two out of three companies now use social media to deepen their customer relationshipand enable a mutual dialogue. Technically-oriented retailers (73%) and clothing retailers (75%) areabove-average users. Companies using social media also tend to invest a lot, in particular insocial commerce, with every fourth company already making use of it, with a growing tendency.
“Half of the 65% of the companies who are active in social media are thinking about expandingthe social media tools and how it can be applied. This trend will establish itself more and more.It will be interesting to see when the business success of this channel will become measurable forcompanies,” Wenk-Fischer added.
Founded as a subsidiary of the Creditreform Group in 1997, Boniversum is a leading provider ofconsumer information in Germany helping companies make product and credit decisions and expandrevenues. The company is headquartered in Neuss, Germany.
