Online Shopping Clubs Help Drive Germany’s Expanding Retail Sector

Thursday 1 August 2013, Amsterdam

The German Retail Market is expected to grow at a steady pace between 2012-2017, and is ultimately expected to reach EUR482.7 billion, according to a leading consumer specialist new report: The Future of Retailing in Germany.

Online shopping clubs generate mass awareness amongst German consumers
Online shopping clubs have become immensely popular amongst online retailers in Germany, which has resulted in its rapid growth as an online shopping channel. These clubs are extremely useful for consumers as they offer designer accessories and high fashion brands to their registered members, at extremely low prices, for limited periods. These clubs also allow members to keep up to date with the latest trends which then lead to spontaneous purchases.

What differentiates such club members from the general German online shopper, is that they closely follow advertisements and exhibit a keen desire to impress their peers through the purchase of specific brands. Realizing this trend, retailers aim to maximize their reach through advertisements that display high quality photos and video content of their product offerings, which can appeal to, and impress the quality-conscious club members.
Considering the favorable online environment, retailers have started to test new markets and harmonize their existing store footprints via the launch of their online counterparts. Retailers are now looking at this as a low-risk option, which they can use to venture into growing markets, build brands, and learn about consumers.

Online shopping clubs has a huge impact on German Sales
The impact of online shopping clubs has boosted revenues for companies operating in the German retail sector, in part contributing to healthy market growth: the German retail market grew from EUR394.4 billion in 2007 to EUR432.2 billion in 2012 at a CAGR of 1.85%. Canadean expects retail sales in the country to reach EUR482.7 billion in 2017 growing - a CAGR of 2.23% over the next four years. This reveals that online shopping clubs can have a major effect on the growth of retailing, as demonstrated by these CAGR figures. 

This report is the result of Canadean’s extensive market research covering Retailing in Germany. It offers:

• Authoritative and granular detail on the Retail market in Germany, filling in gaps in marketers’ understanding of trends, and the components of change behind them.
• Data on volume and value changes, brand dynamics, and distribution trends.
• Detailed analysis of the retail markets, capturing the shift of new channels depending on the country, the effects of recession, and shifting consumer behavior.
• Detailed product sales segmentation for both volumes and values, including brand data and sales by distribution at the product category level.
• Future forecasts for the market.

This will facilitate:

• Identification of the market dynamics that account for Retail sales overall and proper understanding of which categories and segments will show growth in the coming years.
• The confident updating marketers’ strategic and tactical plans.
• Clear understanding of your own, and your competitors’, position in the market, and the accurate identification of where to compete in the future.