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IW-Report No. 33 4. September 2019 Barbara Engels / Christian Rusche Status quo and trends in e-commerce in Germany

However, e-commerce is not equally important in the individual product groups. Above all, food is still largely sold offline. In the near future, the importance of e-commerce is expected to increase further.

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Status quo and trends in e-commerce in Germany
IW-Report No. 33 4. September 2019 Barbara Engels / Christian Rusche

Status quo and trends in e-commerce in Germany

Barbara Engels / Christian Rusche German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

However, e-commerce is not equally important in the individual product groups. Above all, food is still largely sold offline. In the near future, the importance of e-commerce is expected to increase further.

This report analyses the role and development of e-commerce in Germany and identifies future trends. In recent years, e-commerce has become increasingly important in Germany. It is now responsible for more than ten percent of retail sales. Although there are cannibalization effects, a complete replacement of the stationary trade by online trade is not to be expected. The future development of e-commerce will largely be determined by logistics. Shipping logistics can develop into the bottleneck of online trade and slow it down considerably. It can therefore be advantageous for retailers to set up their own logistics structures or at least to examine new logistics services. This is particularly true since logistics determines the purchase decision in e-commerce to a high degree and is therefore decisive for the success of each retailer.
 

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Status quo and trends in e-commerce in Germany
IW-Report No. 33 4. September 2019 Barbara Engels / Christian Rusche

Status quo and trends in e-commerce in Germany

Barbara Engels / Christian Rusche German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

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The Cost Competitiveness of German Industry in Times of Considerable Uncertainty
IW-Trends No. 2 27. August 2025 Christoph Schröder

An International Comparison of Unit Labour Costs: The Cost Competitiveness of German Industry in Times of Considerable Uncertainty

On average, German unit labour costs in 2024 were 22 percent higher than in the 27 other countries considered in this study and 15 percent higher than in the other nations of the eurozone, a disadvantage for which the above-average productivity of German industry was insufficient to compensate.

Christoph Schröder IW

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IW-Report No. 13 19. March 2025 Thomas Obst / Klaus-Heiner Röhl

Corporate insolvencies rise sharply: Cause for concern or normalization after the pandemic years?

The number of enterprise insolvencies in Germany is rising sharply, and there is no end in sight to the increase. The almost two-decade-long downward trend, which culminated in a slump in reported insolvencies during the Covid-19 pandemic, has thus clearly been broken.

Thomas Obst / Klaus-Heiner Röhl IW

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