Online commerce currently offers great business potential to B2B and B2C companies. More and more companies are starting e-commerce businesses to find new opportunities in the UK and abroad. Germany is undoubtedly one of the most attractive European markets, and its location in the heart of Europe makes it a significant trading partner for the UK. Germany experienced a surge in e-commerce retail growth in 2020 and continues to offer a wealth of opportunities for local and global e-commerce businesses.
So, what should you know, and what details should you consider before starting an e-commerce business in Germany?
In 2020, 75 % more Germans purchased online than in the previous three months of the previous year. Online revenue in e-commerce in Germany reached an all-time high of 95 billion Euros in 2020 for B2C goods (source: Statista, 2021). About 23% of consumers say they usually buy online from abroad at least once a year. One of the main reasons for this is the desire to have access to various products that are not yet locally available.
E-commerce retail in Germany ranks as one of the top e-commerce markets in Europe, second only to the UK. The online commerce sector is favoured by factors that characterise the German market: Internet access guaranteed to 90% of the population, excellent infrastructures, and a high standard of living all contribute to make Germany a market with a solid digital culture. Online shopping is a well-established habit among German consumers, with over 80% of German consumers saying they usually buy online.
The thriving German market offers excellent potential for UK businesses and online shops; Below are the first steps towards starting your e-commerce business in Germany.
How to make your e-commerce business well known in Germany
Before setting up your online shop, it is essential to understand which digital strategy to follow in this market. A careful analysis of the path German users take to purchase your products and services is vital to determine the structure of your e-commerce strategy. The route you decide to take, the resources, and your available budget will help to identify the most suitable way to reach your business goals.
Then, you can focus on building your online shop: one of the most important aspects of communicating with a new audience is doing it in their native language. Using German, in this instance, will build more trust in users. German consumers will then be more comfortable navigating a site in their native language and much more likely to buy.
An SEO study of keywords in the consumer's native language must be conducted to determine the main keywords to use. These keywords should be inserted in your e-commerce business site to make sure it is easily found among the search results. For this step, it is helpful to check out which keywords local competitors are using to make sure your business stands out from them.
Paid advertising on Google offers a range of available options to meet business objectives such as:
● search campaigns based on keywords relating to the products/services or brands for sale;
● display campaigns to increase brand awareness;
● retargeting campaigns to pursue customers who have visited your website or made purchases in your shop;
● brand campaigns based on the name of your e-commerce business (this step will be helpful once the brand is already well known).As for promotion, social networks play a crucial role in e-commerce: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn will make the shop well known to a wider audience and open up possibilities for dialogue with consumers. Social media increases company brand awareness by initiating customer interaction and comments and providing valuable feedback.
Social networks work equally well in expanding newsletter readership and increasing sales; they enable companies to follow customers of their online shop, and allow the companies to specifically target shoppers who have abandoned their carts without buying the goods.
When using all these tools, it is essential to communicate in the native language of the audience, if possible, use appropriate idioms and colloquial expressions to show a good command of the language and instil consumer confidence.
Mintense emphasises individual countries' cultural and linguistic aspects and has been helping UK companies and other e-commerce companies enter new markets abroad for over 17 years. Digital channels, multilingual international SEO activities, Google Ads sponsorships, and advertising on popular social media have helped create these possibilities.
If you are thinking of opening an e-commerce business in Germany or increasing sales from your German shop, contact us to find out how we can help you.
How do German shoppers expect to pay?
Payment is where British shops most often lose German orders. Card at checkout is normal in Britain; in Germany it is one option among several, and not the preferred one. Payment on invoice, where the customer receives the goods and pays afterwards, has been a mainstream habit for decades. SEPA direct debit, PayPal and instalment options are all expected alongside it.
A checkout offering cards alone reads as a foreign shop that has not bothered to look. Prices should be shown in euros, inclusive of VAT for consumers, with delivery costs stated before the basket rather than discovered inside it.
Which legal pages does a German online shop need?
German consumer law is specific about what a shop must publish, and the requirements are enforced. Every site needs an Impressum, the legal notice naming the company, its address, contact details and registration information. Alongside it sit a privacy notice, general terms of sale, and a cancellation policy explaining the customer's right to withdraw.
The order button itself is regulated: it must state unambiguously that clicking it creates an obligation to pay. Prices must be displayed with VAT, and delivery costs identified separately. Businesses shipping packaged goods to German consumers also carry packaging registration duties, and further obligations for categories such as electrical goods and batteries. Take German legal advice rather than assuming your British pages transfer.
What do German customers expect from delivery and returns?
Parcel delivery in Germany is dense and reliable, and expectations follow. Customers are used to tracking, to choosing a delivery point, and to collecting from a locker or a parcel shop rather than waiting at home. Offering a single untracked courier option puts you behind the shops they already use.
Returns deserve the same attention. The right to withdraw from a distance purchase runs for fourteen days across the EU, and in practice German shoppers compare return policies before they buy. A prepaid label and a German return address, or a returns agent, cost less than the orders lost by asking a customer to post a parcel back to Britain at their own expense.
Should you sell on Amazon.de and Otto as well as your own shop?
Marketplaces are the fastest way to find out whether Germans want your product, and the slowest way to build a business you own. Amazon.de carries the volume, Otto is a long established German retailer whose marketplace is open to third party sellers, and eBay and Kaufland both have real audiences. Category specialists exist too, particularly in fashion and home improvement.
The sensible pattern is to use a marketplace to test demand and gather reviews, whilst building your own German shop in parallel. Marketplace sales prove the market; they do not hand you the customer relationship, the margin or the data.
Whichever route you take, the German version has to be built as a German shop rather than a translated British one. That is the work Mintense does for companies opening a market they have never sold in before.
FAQ, selling online in Germany
What payment methods does a German online shop need?
At minimum PayPal, SEPA direct debit and cards, with payment on invoice offered if your risk tolerance allows it, since paying after delivery remains a familiar habit in Germany. Instalment options are increasingly expected on higher value items. Prices must appear in euros including VAT for consumers, and delivery costs should be visible before checkout rather than appearing at the final step, where they cause abandoned baskets.
Do I need an Impressum on my German online shop?
Yes. German law requires a clearly reachable legal notice giving the company name, postal address, contact details, and registration and VAT information where applicable. It is not optional and it should not be a footer link nobody can find. Alongside it you need a privacy notice, general terms of sale and a cancellation policy. Take German legal advice on the wording rather than translating your British pages and hoping.
How long do German customers have to return an order?
Fourteen days from receipt of the goods, under the EU right of withdrawal that applies to distance selling, and the customer must be told about that right in a cancellation policy before they buy. Many German shops go further and offer free returns, so your policy is compared against theirs rather than judged on its own. A German return address or a returns agent removes the biggest practical objection to buying from Britain.
Can I sell to Germany from a British warehouse?
Yes, and many businesses start that way, but the friction is real. Orders cross a customs border, so import VAT, duties and paperwork have to be handled in a way that does not surprise the customer at the door. Delivery takes longer than a domestic German parcel and returns cost more. Test the market from Britain, then move stock into the EU once volume justifies the cost of doing so.
Is a German language shop really necessary?
Yes, if you want the order rather than the visit. German shoppers can usually read English and will still choose the shop that speaks their language, shows euro prices and answers the telephone in German. That means product pages, checkout, delivery information and customer service in German, not simply a translated homepage. Half translated shops tend to lose people at exactly the point where trust matters most, the payment step.
