SMEs in Germany are slow to adopt e-commerce

The digital distribution of products and services via e-commerce solutions offers abundant opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises. Although it holds high potential, SMEs are still slow to fully exploit its potential, as illustrated by an analysis performed on the basis of the KfW SME Panel. Only around one in six SMEs make use of e-commerce channels (16 %). They generated around EUR 153 billion in turnover through online sales channels in 2015 – 4 % of SMEs’ total turnover. The more SMEs focused on e-commerce, the higher their turnover growth was. But higher competitive pressure also results in lower profitability. Even if not every sector is equally suited for e-commerce, there is no doubt that e-commerce will become increasingly important. This is due not least to generational change, as younger entrepreneurs are more comfortable with digital selling.

SMEs in Germany are slow to adopt e-commerce(PDF, 161 KB, non-accessible)

Press release