Online shopping is more popular than bricks-and-mortar stores

Time savings are a major advantage

“Fifty-five million Germans purchased online last year. This number speaks for itself and shows that online retail appeals to people and responds to their needs. Still having plenty of time to order food in the evening after work, not having to put up with the crowds at the weekend – thanks to online shopping, none of that is a problem,” says Julia Miosga, Retail Expert at Bitkom.

Young shoppers like the larger selection of products

The more diverse ranges are also a significant plus point: more than half (56 per cent) believe that shopping online means they can buy products that are difficult to find or unavailable in physical stores. The younger target group of 14- to 29-year-olds is especially likely to agree with this view (68 per cent). Fifty-five per cent of the online shoppers surveyed also believe that products are cheaper online than they are in stores.

Right to return items is the ace up e-retailers’ sleeve

Around one quarter (23 per cent) also like the ease with which they can cancel online purchases. In contrast to bricks-and-mortar purchases, customers have the right to do so when they purchase online. It may be true that some stores have their own exchange or return policies, but this is entirely voluntary and down to the retailer’s goodwill. Some 22 per cent buy online primarily because there are no or only a few stores close to their home. This reason is frequently cited by those living in small towns and villages with fewer than 5,000 residents.

Germany is the fifth-largest online furniture market

Good to know: online furniture purchases are also gradually picking up speed. In the past year, Germans spent Euro 3.7 billion on furniture and homewares online, which represents an increase of 9.6 per cent compared to the previous year. This makes Germany the fifth-largest online furniture market worldwide, after China (Euro 44.9 billion), the USA (Euro 25.6 billion), the United Kingdom (Euro 7.4 billion) and Japan (Euro 4.6 billion). These are the findings of a market analysis by Statista and its subsidiary eCommerceDB. The analysts predict annual growth of ten per cent for the next five years. This will take the sales volume of the German online furniture market to Euro 5.9 billion by 2021.

The top players in online furniture retail

All this adds up to an excellent environment for the interiors industry. But still mixed goods retailers and those that originated as mail order companies predominate among the top five online players. The big five in 2016, measured in terms of their net turnover, were Otto (Euro 689 million), Amazon (Euro 320 million), IKEA (Euro 186 million), Home24 (Euro 170 million) and Tchibo (Euro 103 million). A total of 26 companies specialising in furniture each generated net e-commerce sales of more than Euro ten million in the past year. They primarily include retailers with physical stores, such as IKEA, mömax, Roller and Höffner.