Looking forward to the virtual Christmas shopping spree

The Christmas business has started: The online trade and logistics actors declare that they are well prepared for the virtual Christmas shopping spree by German consumers.

In recent months, German online retailers have filled their warehouses, optimized their IT, revised their websites, checked their offers and negotiated contracts with logistics providers. As a result – this year once again, everyone is well prepared for the approaching hot phase of the Christmas business season. “For most of our dealers, this is when the most important quarter begins. If the weather doesn’t go crazy so that deliveries cannot be made, we expect Christmas trade to be excellent again this year,” states Christoph Wenk-Fischer, Managing Director of the German E-Commerce and Mail Order Association. (bevh). According to the Bundesverband Paket und Expresslogistik (BIEK – German Parcel and Express Logistics Association), an average of up to 14 million CEP items will be transported daily in Germany during this year’s Christmas season (November and December). At peak times, the calculated number of parcels transported is as high as 19 million.

According to the bevh consumer study “Interactive Retailing in Germany”, in the last 9 months of this year 75.8 percent of consumers were very satisfied with order processing in e-commerce. “We are eager to see whether the electronics and telecommunications, as well as the computer, accessories and games sectors, in particular, will once again be able to achieve a high increase. In this product category, we have annual growth of up to EUR 1 billion in the 4th quarter by comparison with the 3rd quarter. Online trading, with its special offer days such as Black Friday and CyberWeek, is responsible for this, and is straightening out the hot phase of the Christmas business,” says Wenk-Fischer.