Description
Database of the largest E-Commerce companies in Germany for direct download as Excel list
Our list of the largest e-commerce companies in Germany is an exclusive listing of the top-selling German online shops. The database contains companies that are exclusively engaged in online trading or have a clear focus on online trading. In addition to the turnover and employee figures, the list contains information on the respective industry focus as well as general contact data. You can easily purchase the data set via our online shop and download it directly as an Excel list. Our data is updated regularly to ensure a consistently high data quality. Within one year after purchasing the list, you will receive the updates free of charge by e-mail. If you have any questions regarding the data set of the largest e-commerce companies in Germany or our service in general, we would be pleased to receive your message at contact[at]researchgermany.com We would also be happy to provide you with a free preview file so that you can get an impression of the structure of the list.
The most relevant German online retailers at a glance: fashion trade, furniture trade, food trade, etc.
The list of the largest German e-commerce companies is an excerpt from our comprehensive database of the top-selling retail companies in Germany. Thanks to the included categorization according to industry and field of activity, it is possible to filter out the most suitable companies for one’s own project with just a few clicks. Even though online trade has experienced a strong upswing in recent years, many relevant players are still largely unknown. With our list you will get a comprehensive overview of the market and can start directly with your approach. Many of our clients use our databases for lead generation or for the preparation of competitive analyses. Thanks to the clear structure in an Excel file, the data can be transferred to your CRM system or used for further analyses.
This information is included in the directory
- Company name
- Revenues for the years 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015 and number of employees (based on annual and consolidated financial statements)
- Indication of the industry focus (e.g. fashion trade, furniture trade, electronics trade)
- General contact information (address, e-mail address, telephone number, URL)
- Names of the executives
Where the headquarters of Germany’s largest E-Commerce companies are located:
The following industries are covered by the list of the largest E-Commerce companies in Germany:
- Online fashion retailers (e.g. Zalando SE)
- Online electronics retailer (e.g. notebooksbilliger.de AG)
- Online children’s and baby products retailers (e.g. myToys.de GmbH)
- Online furniture dealer (e.g. home24 SE)
- Online car parts dealer (e.g. Delticom AG)
- etc.
Free preview file, free updates and more: at ResearchGermany customer support is our top priority
The research team of Research Germany has specialized in making hard-to-find industries easily accessible and transparent. For this purpose, we create comprehensive market overviews of numerous industries in Germany and Europe and make these available as Excel lists via our online shop. You can find an overview of our current product portfolio here. Research Germany is not only characterized by high-quality and up-to-date data sets, but also by excellent customer support. If you have any questions about our products, are interested in preview files, are looking for support with individual research orders or have any other concerns, we look forward to hearing from you at contact[at]researchgermany.com. We look forward to helping you and would be pleased to welcome you as a customer.
Picture sources: Campaign Creators
List of the 5 largest E-Commerce companies in Germany
In the past two decades, e-commerce has experienced rapid growth in Germany. At the turn of the millennium, sales in online trading reached just 1.3 billion euros. In 2019, 59.2 billion euros have already been achieved. High annual growth rates are also expected in the future. These are the 5 largest German e-commerce companies:
#1: Otto (GmbH & Co KG), Hamburg: revenues of €13.4 billion (2018/19)
Otto was founded in 1949 as a classic mail order company, the “Otto Catalogue” is a household name. Even today, the mail order business still forms the core of the business model. However, the catalogue has lost much of its importance. Online trading accounts for the largest share of sales. It accounts for about three quarters of Otto sales. Otto operates around 100 online shops and is considered the number 2 in Germany in e-commerce after Amazon. Otto is the undisputed leader among German online retailers.
#2: Zalando SE, Berlin: revenues of €6.5 billion (2019)
Zalando was founded in 2008 following the example of the US mail order company Zappos. As investors, the Samwer brothers with their company Rocket Internet were godfathers. They have already helped many e-commerce start-ups around the world. Zalando is a company that has been focusing almost exclusively on e-commerce from the very beginning. Originally focused only on shoes, the Zalando range now also includes fashion and cosmetics. In 2013, Zalando GmbH became an AG. 2014 an SE. In autumn 2014 the company went public.
#3: Klingel Group (K – Mail Order GmbH & Co. KG), Pforzheim: revenues of €1.0 billion (2018)
Klingel (today officially: K – Mail Order GmbH & Co. KG) describes itself as Germany’s third largest mail order company, it is in any case the oldest existing one. The company was founded in 1923. As with other traditional mail order companies, a considerable part of the business is now conducted via e-commerce. Klingel has over 60 online shops, but is only in the top quarter of shop operators in this country in terms of online sales. This may be due to the fact that the range of products on offer is primarily aimed at the 50+ target group. It includes fashion, shoes, jewellery and watches, home textiles, household and garden products and electrical appliances.
#4: Thomann GmbH, Burgebrach-Treppendorf: revenues of €920 million (2019)
One would hardly suspect a global company in the Upper Franconian hamlet of Treppendorf near Bamberg. But that is the Thomann GmbH. The online shop for musicians’ supplies operated by Thomann has made the company the largest music supplies retailer in the world in terms of sales. The family business started in 1954 when the travelling musician Hans Thomann Senior founded a music shop in his home town and from then on earned his income as a travelling salesman. Under his son the business was consistently expanded and the internet opened the way to worldwide distribution.
#5: notebooksbilliger.de AG, Sarstedt: revenues of € 879 million (2018)
The company name notebooksbilliger.de AG has been in existence since 2008, but the company was founded as a software house back in 1989. With the advent of the Internet and the spread of e-commerce, the business focus has shifted. Today the main business is the mail order business for notebooks and mobile devices via the two online shops notebooksbilliger.de (Germany) and notebooksbilliger.at (Austria). The company’s headquarters are in Sarstedt near Hildesheim. Further branches are located in Berlin, Potsdam, Munich, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Eggenstein (near Karlsruhe).
The German E-Commerce industry: Statistics and facts
In 1999, e-commerce sales in Germany amounted to a good one billion euros, and by 2019 the figure will be 59.2 billion euros. This rapid growth is typical. Double-digit annual growth rates are also expected in the coming years. Already today, e-commerce has a share of more than 12 percent of trade, and is expected to increase to up to 17 percent by 2024. The top-selling online retailer in Germany in 2019 was Amazon, followed by Otto, Zalando, Mediamarkt and notebooksbilliger.de.
The success story of e-commerce ran parallel to the spread of the Internet. It forms the technical basis and platform for online commerce. The first commercial applications started in 1990 and today several hundred thousand online stores are active on the German market. Many of them are pure e-commerce providers. But also the stationary trade has meanwhile discovered the distribution channel online store for itself.
The online trade is predominantly a B2C business. Most offers and business models are geared towards (online) consumers. This is also where the largest revenues are generated. There are now hardly any areas of retail that the online boom has not covered. Online retailing is particularly strong in shoes and clothing, consumer electronics, electrical appliances, toys, accessories, jewelry and watches. In addition, e-commerce now plays a major role in consumer-related services – including flights and travel, entertainment and financial services.
Frequently asked questions about our list of the largest e-commerce companies in Germany
The most important questions about our list of the largest mechanical enigneering companies Germany
The companies included in the list can be found through various sources: Internet research, public registers, analysis of relevant news, investigation of relevant transactions, our extensive personal network. Hundreds of hours of detailed, high-quality research flow into each of our lists. All data points that we can enter via publicly available sources are included in our lists.
Every data point for which there is publicly available information is filled out in our lists. However, if we do not have an e-mail address or we do not know whether a company is investing in a particular area, we fill this field with an “n.a.”. In most cases we achieve a data coverage of over 90%. If you want to know the exact coverage of the list – e.g. how many e-mail addresses are available – our team will be happy to help you.
Our lists are always delivered as handy Excel files. On request we can also send you the list as a CSV file.
After purchasing the list, you can immediately download the list as an Excel file when paying by credit card or PayPal. You will also receive a download link by e-mail. Future free updates will also be sent to you by e-mail. If you pay in advance, you will receive the list after the amount has been credited to our account or you have sent us a bank transfer receipt.
We have noted the last update date in the product description at the top of the page. We update our lists regularly. Our customers receive free updates and additions to the list for at least 12 months.
Our lists contain – if publicly available – address, telephone number, e-mail addresses and management names of the listed companies. For privacy reasons, we may only include information that is publicly available or provided by the companies. If no data points are available, there is an “n.a.” in the corresponding field.
Due to the DSGVO our lists do not contain personal e-mail addresses and telephone numbers. Our lists contain publicly available contact data or contact data provided by the companies (e-mail address, telephone number, postal address, names of directors).
Our lists do not contain any personal contact data that is specifically protected by the European Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO). Our lists always contain publicly accessible data points (official registers such as the Commercial Register or the Federal Gazette, Internet, company websites) or data provided voluntarily by companies and are therefore harmless.
In Germany, contact is regulated by §7 UWG. Thus, postal advertising in the B2B sector is generally permitted. Contacting by telephone is permitted if the business contact is presumably interested. This can also be accepted for e-mail contact, as long as the contact is made once and the contact is not included in newsletters without being asked.
Important note: We are not lawyers and cannot make legally binding statements. If you have any open questions, please feel free to contact us.
The companies included in the lists can be contacted in various ways – by telephone, postal letter, e-mail, networks such as LinkedIn, jointly attended trade fairs. In order to establish successful contacts, it is particularly important to work on individualized addresses tailored to the respective companies. Mass letters are rarely successful. Instead, our customers are most successful when they adapt to the companies included in our lists, obtain information and then address them in a customized manner. Another successful approach is to contact them via LinkedIn, for example, by selecting the right contact person from our list and then addressing them via a consistent starting point. Intros” that are mediated via shared contacts are also a good step towards establishing contact. Also possible: at trade fairs visited together, you can use the trade fair lists to search specifically for companies included in the lists and make appointments for meetings.
In general: the more effort is put into the individual approach, the more successful it is. Think about what suitable starting points are, how you can deliver added value and show the addressed companies that you put a lot of effort into the contact. Many of our customers have already built up valuable and successful business relationships.
Patrick Ross (verified owner) –
The list offers high-quality data from the entire e-commerce industry in Germany. I am very happy with the diverse selection of data.