German consumers continued to switch more of their shopping to the internet in the second quarterof this year, generating a 27 per cent boom in e-commerce sales, according to new figures from the
country’s interactive trading association.Overall sales of goods by the interactive retail sector, covering both traditional mail-ordersales and online shopping, increased by 15 per cent to €9.14 billion between April and June 2012,the bvh association said.
E-commerce sales grew strongly by 27 per cent to €6.6 billion. This means that onlineshopping now represents 72 per cent of interactive sales compared to 65 per cent in the secondquarter of last year, bvh pointed out.
The figures represent an acceleration compared to the first quarter of this year, whenoverall interactive sales rose 10 per cent and e-commerce sales were 18 per cent higher. In 2011,the sector increased revenues by 12 per cent to €34 billion, with e-commerce sales up 18 per centto €21.7 billion.
“The figures for the first two quarters confirm our annual prediction for 2012,” said bvhexecutive director Christoph Wenk-Fischer. “A glance at the goods categories with the highest salesgrowth proves once again that online and mail-order shopping is becoming more and more natural forcustomers.” The association expects total interactive sales revenues in Germany to reach €36.5billion this year.
In terms of products, the largest category, consisting of clothes, textiles and shoes,increased sales by a moderate 2 per cent to €3.5 billion. The second-largest product group,covering consumer electronics, soared by a dramatic 44 per cent to €910 million. The thirdbest-selling product segment, consisting of media products, increased sales by 17 per cent to €840million. Computers and accessories also grew strongly, up 42 per cent to €610 million.
The strongest growth rates on lower sales figures were generated by DIY/garden/flowers (129per cent), cosmetics/perfumes (90 per cent), household goods (62 per cent) and telecommunications(60 per cent).
