5. April 2022 | Press release

Out of a box instead of a can: among online shoppers fresh produce is booming

  • Corona pandemic permanently changes German shopping habits

  • Along with fresh produce and beverages, there is strong demand for groceries and pharmaceuticals

  • With an average of 6.7 parcels per month Germans lead the EU rankings

Aschaffenburg, 05 April 2022 – The COVID 19 pandemic has shown one thing: consumers in Germany are ordering more fresh produce and beverages online. Alongside groceries and pharmaceuticals, these product groups are in particularly high demand. This is shown by DPDgroup's new E-Shopper Barometer. Some further interesting facts: Germans who shop online are creatures of habit. For example, 81% of all online purchases are made by regular e-shoppers - people who order online at least once a month. In an EU-wide comparison they receive the most parcels per month with 6.7 on average. And: with above-average frequency Germany's online shoppers order from the same suppliers.

The fresh produce and beverages category in particular is a bestseller in German online retailing: 21% of German e-shoppers ordered goods from this segment in 2021. Compared to the last major DPDgroup E-Shopper Barometer from 2020, this represents an increase of nine percentage points. Ready-to-eat meals and frozen food are particularly popular.

Over the past two years the Corona pandemic has significantly changed the way German e-shoppers look at their shopping habits. In 2020 many people found that in times of lockdowns and shortages of goods they could conveniently get their supplies on the Internet."

Eric Malitzke, CEO of DPD Germany

"Over the past two years the Corona pandemic has significantly changed the way German e-shoppers look at their shopping habits. In 2020 many people found that in times of lockdowns and shortages of goods they could conveniently get their supplies on the Internet. And in 2021 this convenience paid off: categories of goods that were not previously in such great demand became increasingly popular, because the pandemic demonstrated that obtaining groceries and pharmaceuticals by parcel also works very efficiently," says Eric Malitzke, CEO of DPD Germany.

The main reasons for online shopping: time, convenience, no risk of infection.               

German e-shoppers are particularly impressed by the possibility of ordering groceries from home whenever they are required, while simultaneously saving time. But it is not only on this convenience that the Corona pandemic has had a noticeable impact: for example, 38% of German e-shoppers said that because of the pandemic they felt it was safer to buy groceries online than go to a shop. Half of the respondents who had ordered groceries online in the past year indicated that since the start of the pandemic they were ordering fresh produce and drinks online more frequently than before.

At the same time the 2022 E-Shopper Barometer also shows that from the German e-shopper's point of view there is still room for improvement in the range of products offered by retailers - after all, 79% of those surveyed said they don't order groceries online. The main deterrent for these consumers is the fact that they have no opportunity to check the quality and freshness of the goods to be delivered or their general condition in advance. But price is also currently still an obstacle within German e-commerce, with over 30% of respondents reporting that both the cost of the goods and the cost of delivery are too high.

Luxury goods and leisure articles decline slightly in popularity among German shoppers

In addition, demand is falling in product areas that are not part of basic everyday necessities. In particular, the categories of accessories and jewellery as well as automotive accessories have lost more than ten percentage points. The categories of shoes and clothing as well as small articles of furniture and decoration have also seen demand drop by around nine per cent.

Press contact

Unternehmen - DPD - Pressekontakt - Peter Rey

Peter Rey

Group Manager Communications

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Image: Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic the product categories of fresh produce and beverages, groceries and pharmaceuticals are booming. This was revealed by DPDgroup's new E-Shopper Barometer. (Source: DPD)