20% of Germans buy from UK sites, fashion is number one buy - Royal Mail

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 28, 2018

UK e-tail sites are increasingly attractive for shoppers in Germany, a new report shows, with as many as one in five of them having bought from the UK.

Research among 1,500 German shoppers by parcels carrier Royal Mail showed that 20% of them have bought products from a UK site in the last three months. The study said that these shoppers’ average non-food spend on UK websites is €54 (£48) per month.

Of course, that spend goes towards a number of different categories, but given that clothing and footwear are two of the three most common categories that they buy (the other is books), then the fashion industry needs to be very aware of the potential in targeting the German consumer. In fact, 55% buy clothing and 28% footwear from the UK.

But just who is the consumer? According to the survey, the key shopper is mainly female, aged around 48 and lives in an urban area. She’s also using a smartphone or tablet to buy some of the time (32%), but is mostly shopping via traditional computers, with more consumers preferring such devices than is usual globally. This means German language websites (rather than just apps) should be a priority.

German shoppers largely buy from the UK because they’re able to buy items that are exclusive and unavailable locally and 81% said they trust items bought from UK sites not to be fake. 

Some 75% said they buy from UK sites when products aren't available locally and 65% simply like to buy British brands. German shoppers also say that low prices are a key reason for buying British.