The Federal Association of E-Commerce and Mail Order Germany eV (Bevh) is heading into the last weeks of the year with confidence in view of the latest sales development.
In the months of October and November, sales of goods in local online stores reached 15.4 billion euros, exceeding the previous year’s level by 2.9 percent, the industry organization said on Thursday, citing a current survey of consumers.
“Despite the cautious consumer mood, online retail can look forward to a happier Christmas for the first time this year,” explained the association with a view to current developments. Overall, he currently sees “stable Christmas business” for the industry.
Online clothing sales are only growing marginally
However, the past few weeks have not been particularly encouraging for online fashion retailers. In the clothing product cluster, total revenue in October and November only increased by 0.1 percent to around 3.36 billion euros. Sales of clothing grew by 0.1 percent to 2.66 billion euros and of household and home textiles by 4.4 percent to 360 million euros. At 702 million euros, revenue from shoes remained unchanged compared to the same period last year.
Growth drivers were other areas. Sales in the furnishings goods cluster rose by 8.3 percent to 3.1 billion euros and in the “daily needs” cluster by 6.7 percent to 1.5 billion euros. In the entertainment sector, online sales increased by 1.3 percent to 4.8 billion euros, and in the leisure segment they grew by 1.8 percent to 1.6 billion euros.