Site: EVO - Europe| Language: English
COLOGNE, 15 April 2010 - The east-west difference in German online retailing has vanished. This is one of the results of the recently published "E-Retail Report 2009" by Deutsche Card Services, a study of current purchasing and payment behaviour. In terms of population-adjusted purchasing activity there is virtually no disparity between the western and eastern federal states any more. The western states have only a minimal lead (51% : 49%), down from 8% in the preceding year. Credit card popularity is also similar in eastern and western Germany: The credit card is the preferred payment method in online retailing across Germany, including Bremen. This is noteworthy because Bremen was the only federal state last year where direct debiting predominated instead of credit cards. The "E-Retail Report 2009" shows that this direct debiting stronghold has fallen. In contrast to other research, the sector-specific study of the Deutsche Bank subsidiary on purchasing and payment behaviour and on nonpayment risks in e-retailing is based on real-life transactions, not on surveys. The database consists of roughly eight million transactions processed on the Deutsche Card Services platform.
Inhabitants of Brandenburg particularly active in e-retailing, even though theirpurchasing power is low
For the first time in the history of the "E-Retail Report", which started in 2007, an eastern federal state - Brandenburg - was the one where people were most active in online retailing (in population-adjusted terms). However, another eastern state - Saxony - was at the bottom of the list, as in the preceding year and as in the Deutsche Card Services E-Commerce Report 2009. That high purchasing activity and high purchasing power do not necessarily go hand in hand is proven by the citizens of Brandenburg, too. They registered the lowest average transaction value in Germany (68.98 €; preceding year: rank 9). It is therefore no surprise that the region with the lowest e-retailing activity belongs to this federal state, too: The inhabitants of Cottbus/Finsterwalde/Forst (Lausitz)/Spremberg (postal digit region 03) are at the bottom of the list in e-retailing as well as in overall e-commerce.
Recent online payment method giropay particularly popular in the south of Germany
In Germany, the highest transaction values in e-retailing are registered if customers pay by credit card. People in Bremen, who were very reluctant to use credit cards in e-retailing before, abandoned all reservations last year. With 104.27 €, the average transaction value for this payment method is the second-highest in any federal state. Only in Bavaria is it even higher (114.19 €). Transaction values are lowest for purchases made in Bremen and paid for by giropay. E-retail customers spend only 36.78 € on average on such purchases. giropay is an up-to-date online payment method for German customers which combines immediate order processing and the security and wide reach of online banking. It is based on the PIN/TAN procedure and meets the highest possible security requirements. According to the "E-Retail Report 2009" of Deutsche Card Services, this modern online payment method is particularly popular in the south of Germany. People from the northern states prefer direct debiting in online retailing, and in the east of Germany the share of offline payment methods such as pre-payment or cash on delivery is above the average.
Payment security is highest in Hessen
According to the "E-Retail Report 2009" of Deutsche Card Services, the non-payment risk ranking of the 16 federal states has changed considerably since the preceding year. The citizens of Bremen have taken over from the inhabitants of Hessen at the top of the negative ranking and registered an above-average chargeback ratio of 0.34%. This figure describes the share of credit card transactions that are charged back after an objection by the cardholder. Direct debiting still plays a major role in Bremen, and the non-payment risk for this payment method is lowest that state (1.918%). Hessen has become the federal state with the lowest risk of non-payment in online retailing. At 0.03%, the chargeback ratio is very low, and at 93.16%, the success rate of credit card transactions is the highest in Germany. In addition, Hessen registered the fourth-lowest direct debit chargeback ratio in Germany.
E-Retail Report 2009 segues seamlessly from former issues
The E-Retail Report 2009 segues seamlessly from the two preceding issues published as "Pago Retail Reports". By now, the study is well established as an informative and reliable source of information for online retail trade. It supplements the recently released E-Commerce Report 2009. The E-Retail Report 2009 distinguishes between consumers from Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), the rest of Europe and countries outside Europe. It covers both traditional payment methods such as credit cards, direct debiting and offline payment methods (e.g. COD) and ever more popular new online payment methods such as giropay and Maestro. The database consists of a selection of
e-retail purchase transactions processed via the platform of Deutsche Card Services between October 2007 and September 2008.
The E-Retail Report 2009 is available at a price of EUR 250 (excl. VAT) from the online shop of Deutsche Card Services from now on. For more information please see www.deutsche-card-services.com.
Please note: Media professionals can obtain the E-Retail Report 2009 for free on request. Please get in touch with the contact set out below if you want to use the report for your work.