The online trade continues to be the industry’s strong growth driver. In the first quarter of 2018, a 10.6 percent increase was recorded compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the current figures of the Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel Deutschland e.V. (bevh) (German E-commerce and Mail Order Trade Association e.V.). Nevertheless, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it is plain sailing for online shops. The competition from Amazon is too tough for many of them. According to the Institut für Handelsforschung (IFH Köln) (Institute for Trade Research), almost every second Euro spent on the web in Germany flows into the tills of the giant.
