According to the association for mail order business in Germany (bvh), sales in the mail order business and e-commerce will increase in 2009. It is estimated that sales figures in the mail order business will grow by between 2% and 3% to 29.2 or 29.5 billion Euros which would be the same growth as in 2008. The share of the mail order business in proportion to the overall retail sale trade volume increased from 5.8% in 1996 to 7.2% in the year 2008.
German e-commerce is expected to grow as well by at least 10% according to the bvh. Due to the current economic conditions, however, it is difficult to come up with a precise prediction.
For years e-commerce has become more and more popular. Not only among consumers, but also among merchants which have launched their own online shops in order to use the internet as an additional sales channel.
In total the e-commerce business grew by 23% to 13.4 billion Euros in 2008. In the mail order business turnover grew by 3.7% to 28.6 billion, 46.9% of which were generated over the internet. 