After German consumers were long in the rear in a European comparison in terms of the use of digital channels, they have now worked their way up from the penultimate place to the European midfield and are now even one of the few exceptions in terms of the increase in users overall .
While 15 of 19 European countries have seen physical channels regaining strength after the relaxation of the corona restrictions – for example when shopping in the supermarket, in the fashion store or visiting the bank branch – almost 4 million new users have been gained in Germany since last year, who are shopping online for the first time , took out insurance or booked a trip. Compared to 2021, this corresponds to growth of 5 percentage points (PP).
General acceptance of digital interactions
This is due to greater use of digital solutions in certain industries, such as banking (+14PP to a total of 86 percent), healthcare (+14PP to a total of 44 percent) and grocery (+11PP to a total of 21 percent).
“All in all, the acceptance of digital interaction via apps, chats or websites is far more than a pandemic trend – Europe has experienced an average net increase of 100 million online users since 2019,” summarizes the representative survey “Digital Sentiment Survey”. McKinsey & Company together.
More than 25,000 consumers between the ages of 18 and 85 from 19 European countries took part in the survey, which was conducted between March 15 and 31, 2022, including over 1,500 from Germany. It is the third edition of the consumer survey, which was carried out for the first time in 2020.
In general, around 85 percent of Europeans with internet access have used at least one digital service in the food, banking, insurance, retail, entertainment, education, public administration or health sectors in the past six months. While only 65 percent of consumers in Germany did this in 2021, it is now 70 percent or 13th place in a European comparison.
In addition to Germany, Austria (+7pp), Finland (+3pp) and Switzerland (+0.5pp) also recorded online gains. All other countries show some significant declines in digital use in favor of physical channels, such as going to stationary retail (France -11PP, Portugal -13PP, Czech Republic -14PP).
“In the ‘New Normal’, Europe’s and Germany’s consumers are interacting with significantly more industries via digital channels than before the pandemic. The development is irreversible and will intensify again over the younger generations,” comments Gérard Richter, head of McKinsey Digital in Germany and senior partner in McKinsey’s Frankfurt office, in a statement.
Winner Banking and Healthcare
Among the fully digital users, banking saw the largest increase in absolute terms at 33 percentage points, with around 86 percent of users of banking services stating that they use them exclusively digitally. This is the second highest penetration in the adult population, after entertainment at 88 percent.
Around 44 percent of those surveyed stated that they had taken advantage of purely digital or digitally supported offers in the healthcare sector in the last six months, such as digital contact with a doctor, health insurance by e-mail or chat, but also wellness or Health monitoring apps and online services that provide online diagnostics or symptom checkers. The video consultation or online therapy still plays a subordinate role.
German retail ahead of European average
Retail saw a 4pp decrease in digital channel usage year-over-year, which may be related to increased physical store usage. This is well below the European average of minus 11pp.
Overall, the overall usage or penetration in the German clothing and other retail trade is 69 percent, of which a large part (58 percent) is completely digital, only a small amount is digital with human support (9 percent) and the rest is physical (33 percent). The main reason given for not using digital channels was “I prefer personal contact”.
When it came to preferred digital channels for apparel and other retail, websites were the most frequently cited (48 percent), followed by marketplaces (29 percent), mobile apps (17 percent), social media (3 percent), and instant messaging and call centers ( 1 percent each).
Distrust in cyberattacks, cryptocurrencies
Concern about cyber attacks has increased compared to last year: almost a third of users distrust digital offers for fear of becoming – directly or indirectly – the victim of a cyber attack. Current key technological trends such as artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, hyperpersonalization or metaverse have a high level of awareness among the population at over 80 percent.
“Against cryptocurrencies and the trend towards hyperpersonalization, the Germans, together with the Austrians, remain the biggest critics in Europe and see these trends rather negatively. This is a clear mandate for companies and politicians to communicate the positive effects of new technologies more clearly to consumers,” says Richter.
Consumers currently do not expect that the war in Ukraine will have a major impact on their digital usage – only about 15 percent of German consumers see a negative effect on their personal digital usage behavior, according to the survey. However, they expect to reduce their spending related to digital services.
“As the war progresses and negative implications such as a further increase in the inflation rate can be expected that consumption will decrease. Of course, this development would also be reflected in spending on digital services or online purchases,” says Richter. So far, there have been signs of a decline in sales for the clothing and retail sectors in particular: 24 percent of consumers would like to reduce their spending here.