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Germany is the most populous nation in Europe, with a total population of 82.9 million. It also happens to be one of the wealthiest, with a booming economy, e-commerce, and other sectors.

Germany is the second-largest e-commerce market in the world, after the UK. Germany is a country with a great chance for e-commerce enterprises trying to capture a piece of the pie because it is well ahead of the European norm in terms of e-commerce consumers, internet penetration, and average online expenditure.

The expected value of German e-commerce in 2018 was USD 109.8 billion, an increase of 10% over 2017. The average customer spends roughly USD 867 year, and there are about 72.2 million online users.

Germany may seem to follow common e-commerce trends, but there are some aspects that set this European nation apart.

First of all, with over 80% of Germans owning cellphones, m-commerce is expanding. In fact, mobile e-commerce is expanding more quickly than any other sector, with a rate of growth of 12 percent in 2018. According to eMarketer, mobile transactions will make up 40% of all digital retail sales in 2019.

Germans also have distinctive payment preferences. Germans typically choose payment plans or opening accounts as opposed to making upfront payments. 52 percent of German internet users prefer PayPal, which is followed by invoices with a 26 percent preference, credit or debit cards with a 12 percent preference, direct debiting with a 6 percent preference, and a negligible 1 percent preference for paying cash for goods when they are delivered.

Due to a rule that permits customers to return online goods within 14 days without providing a reason, they also have some of the highest return rates in the entire globe.

Although the large American e-commerce companies like Amazon and eBay predominate in Germany’s e-commerce market, there is still plenty of demand and opportunity for entrepreneurial German enterprises. As seen by the popularity of regional brands like Zalando, MediaMarkt, and Otto.

1. Amazon Germany

Amazon is a US-founded e-commerce mega-brand that has been operating since the 90s and had a firm foothold in the German market for quite some time. Amazon Germany is the third-largest website in the country and the third-largest e-commerce site in the world. 

Selling a wide range of pretty much everything one can think of, from books to digital media, apparel, electronics, and even video streaming and cloud computing, Amazon Germany has well and truly captivated the German market. 

2. eBay Germany

Another American e-commerce pioneer, eBay, is an online marketplace allowing customers to buy just about anything from sellers, both individuals, and businesses, through their online auction platform or direct sale. Since its launch in 1995, eBay has expanded across the globe to more than 20 countries. 

eBay Germany is the sixth-largest website in the country, offering goods in categories including cars, fashion, home, and electronics, which makes up the largest category for German consumers. 

3. eBay Kleinanzeigen

eBay Kleinanzeigen, or eBay Classifieds in English, is Germany’s largest classified site allowing users to post free ads and browse a range of goods; new, used, private or commercial. 

Founded in 2005, eBay Kleinanzeigen is today the 8th largest website in the country attracting users in the market for anything including automotive, real estate, services, leisure items, home and garden, fashion, and electronics, to name just a few. 

4. Otto

Otto is a German-born brand that began as a mail-order company in 1949 and transformed into a thriving e-commerce organization to become the largest online department store in Germany. It’s also a significant brand across the world, with the company now operating in 20 countries across Europe, Asia, and America. 

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Offering a range of items in categories like home, fashion, sports, electronics, and more, Otto attracts a vast German audience, in particular in the homeware, apparel and electronics categories where the brand particularly thrives. 

5. Idealo

Founded in Germany in 2000, Idealo is a price comparison and e-commerce site allowing users to not only compare prices to select the best value items, but purchases can also be made via the platform, making it one of the largest e-commerce sites in the country. 

Idealo covers categories including sports and outdoor, baby and children, house and garden, food and drink, gaming, pharmaceuticals, and so much more, making it one of the most comprehensive comparisons and e-commerce sites. 

6. MediaMarkt

Media Markt is a German electronics store, which was founded in 1979 as a brick and mortar store before its presence grew exponentially throughout Europe, reaching to 12 additional countries and gaining even greater success when the brand went online. 

Owned by the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group, MediaMarket is currently the second-largest consumer electronics brand in the world, second only to its American competitor Best Buy. 

7. Lidl

Another German success story, Lidl is a discount supermarket chain offering groceries and other goods, which has become a household name across much of Europe. Since launching in 1930, Lidl has grown to own 10,000 stores in most European countries and even the United States. 

Lidl’s e-commerce presence has enabled an even greater foothold into the German market, giving customers all across the country access to their range of discount groceries and goods. 

8. Zalando

Zalando is a German e-commerce business with a specialism in fashion, shoes, beauty, accessories, and sports categories, offering goods from a variety of international and small niche brands, with fashion being its most successful segment. 

Since its launch in 2008 by Rocket Internet, Zalando has grown to be an online fashion megabrand across Europe, with operations now in fifteen countries, as well as various international subsidiary companies. 

9. Thomann

Thomann makes an interesting addition to the top 10 as a specialized retailer of music equipment, from musical instruments to studio items such as lighting, pro-audio equipment, and anything else one could need for playing, producing, or showing music. 

Founded in 1954, Thomann has become a significant player in the e-commerce sector, with the site serving multiple countries, able to change the language depending on the location of their audience. 

10. Saturn

Owned by MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group, the same owners of electronics giant MediaMarkt, Saturn caters to the consumer electronics market offering electronics in various categories.

Saturn operators both online and in-store across multiple countries, including Austria, Luxembourg, and Russia.

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