The pandemic boosted retail ecommerce sales across the world and fueled double-digit gains in France and Germany in 2020. This year, both countries will see single-digit growth, as physical retail begins to recover.

Amazon has trumpeted its investment in electric vehicles, announcing a purchase of 1,800 electric Mercedes vans for European use in August 2020. But Amazon’s ability to fund such purchases is perhaps unique among regional online retailers. And electric vans still deliver just a fraction of Amazon orders.

In China and the US, 59% of internet users are comfortable using secondhand clothing items, making those countries where the resale fashion economy is most ripe for growth.

It’s worth noting that Germany and the UK don’t even place in the top 10 by this measure. Though both are advanced ecommerce markets, digital buyers in these countries are relatively unlikely to be social buyers—chiefly because engagement with social networks is substantially lower than in countries such as China, Russia, the US, and Brazil. 

And in Germany, regulators have declared Facebook can no longer process WhatsApp user data, which will likely go on to be reviewed by the European Data Protection Board. Network effects are strong.

Where are people buying into social buying?

Lower prices for most goods also pull shoppers back to Amazon—a key consideration for households feeling a financial pinch. Many smaller retailers are now locked into selling via Amazon, for better or worse. That trend seems to be most pronounced in Italy and Spain, where ecommerce had lagged behind markets such as France, Germany, and the UK.

Smart speaker penetration is lower in Germany and France. In Germany, there will be 11.4 million smart speaker users, or 13.7% of the population. By 2022, users will total 12.5 million users (14.9% of the population). In France, the number of smart speaker users—which has grown robustly in recent years—will reach 9.5 million, or 14.1% of the population.

The coronavirus pandemic has been disastrous for the vast majority of Europe’s retailers. Digital retail has benefitted, though. In Germany, we expect retail ecommerce sales to rise 16.2% this year, and total $92.33 billion.

Article: In Germany, Amazon Prime Video begins closing gap with Netflix.

Total retail sales in Germany will top $927 billion in 2019. Ecommerce will account for an estimated 8.8% of that, or $81.85 billion—but digital sales are rising much faster, at 7.8% this year.

This year, Germany will have more than 47 million digital video viewers and more than 29 million mobile video viewers. In Germany, more people will watch Amazon Prime Video than Netflix, with both services having double-digit growth rates in 2019.

For reference, the most globalized of these 10 companies is Amazon, and we forecast its total worldwide ecommerce sales will equal $416.50 billion this year. China’s second-largest player, JD.com, transacts almost as much inside China as Amazon does globally; and China’s third-largest player, PDD, dwarfs every other American company besides Amazon.

Germany is already taking its place as a regional ecommerce powerhouse, thanks to its large population, excellent infrastructure and generally high standard of living.