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It's been almost 27 years since Phil Brandenberger ushered in the age of online trading.
Back then, in August 1994, the American bought and paid for the CD "Ten Summoners' Tales" by the British musician Sting in an internet shop.
In any case, in the professional world, this business is considered to be the first documented sale that was actually processed online, from the order to the encrypted credit card payment.
At the time, Brandenberger bought on the American Internet marketplace Netmarket.
It still exists today, even though the owner has changed several times.
The Sting CD can currently no longer be ordered via Netmarket.
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But there are plenty of other retailers on the net that Sting fans and all other music lovers can access if necessary.
Because e-commerce has long been a basic form of trade.
A current study by the research institute Copenhagen Economics, which is exclusively available to WELT, shows how fundamental.
On behalf of the Federal Association of E-Commerce and Mail Order (BEVH), the experts calculated for the first time the economic weight of online trading - specifically using the example of Germany as a location.
The result: The industry in this country now stands for added value of around 100 billion euros and thus for 2.9 percent of the total gross domestic product (GDP) alone.
That is an order of magnitude on a par with, for example, the cultural and creative industries.
"We are not the gravedigger of the city centers"
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According to the study, around 1.26 million people are employed, practically as many as in the automotive industry and thus in the German key sector par excellence.
For comparison: their contribution to GDP is around 4.9 percent.
"So far we have never been able to say how important our industry is - we can now," says BEVH President Gero Furchheim, who consequently wants and hopes for more recognition and respect for online trading, especially from politics.
Furchheim is alluding, among other things, to discussions about dying city centers and the only a few weeks old political idea of a package tax at the expense of senders.
“We are not the grave diggers of the city centers,” says the entrepreneur, whose main job runs the medium-sized furniture mail order company Cairo.
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"On the contrary: Online is a huge opportunity, especially for small and medium-sized providers who have been sold out of the city centers for years due to high rents, inadequate traffic concepts and restrictions on opening times." Solution.
Source: WORLD infographic
And indeed, Copenhagen Economics reports that among the German companies that sell both online and in stationary stores, the smaller ones earn almost 30 percent of their sales through web shops and apps.
This value is ten percentage points higher than that of larger providers.
But sales from manufacturers directly to consumers are also easier.
"This is revolutionizing the distribution of goods," says the study, and increases so-called consumer welfare.
“There is more choice and power for the consumer,” summarizes Furchheim.
And that also improves the living conditions in rural areas, where the choice of shops is much smaller than in metropolitan areas.
At the same time, a lot of money is flowing into structurally weak regions, for example in the expansion of delivery logistics.
Source: WORLD infographic
Gerrit Heinemann is also astonished that e-commerce is often perceived as a threat.
"Politicians have apparently still not properly understood the subject of digitization," says the professor of business administration, management and trade at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences.
Romanticized notions of inner cities will be adhered to, but will never be the same again.
“People are not returning to the shopping streets in large numbers,” predicts Heinemann, for whom online retail has long had a system-relevant function.
Last but not least, the scientist refers to the corona crisis.
“During the pandemic, e-commerce saved consumption and in many places was the only way to ensure supply.” However, it seems that there is still a completely wrong image of the industry.
Source: WORLD infographic
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"Apparently, people only think of Amazon and other online giants as the enemy," Heinemann suspects.
The industry is so much broader.
"There are dozens of hidden champions in Germany who work highly profitably and are constantly growing and creating many jobs."
Heinemann has, among other things, providers such as Kartenmacherei, Gartenmöbel.de, Rose Bikes, DeinSchrank.de and the music retailer Thomann in mind.
"These are market-leading portals that are completely underestimated."
And that is only the end consumer business.
"Online trade between companies is many times larger, but politicians hardly notice it at all," Heinemann wonders.
In fact, the ratio was almost four to one in 2019.
Specifically, there were e-commerce sales of 99 billion euros in business with private households in this country, compared to so-called B-to-B revenues in corporate customers of 369 billion euros.
And orders via EDI, i.e. electronic data exchange, as well as from purchasing and procurement systems have not yet been recorded.
"It's more about really comparable processes, that is, orders from companies in online shops and online marketplaces," says Association President Furchheim.
He cites as examples the platforms XOM Materials, on which steel and other metals are traded, or Mercateo with around 25 million articles from numerous industries and product groups.
Corporations like Bosch or the screw and tool dealer Würth have online shares worth billions.
Industry representative Furchheim is now demanding framework conditions from politics that enable fair competition, instead of constantly new requirements and a permanently enforced defensive stance.
“You also want Industry 4.0 in Germany and promote digitally controlled production.
Why should other requirements then apply to trading? "
The study should now contribute to a fact-based and thus more objective discussion.
“It is time for politics to accept the real change in the economy and to support the opportunities of change and innovation in a positive way, instead of relying on preservation,” says Furchheim.
"Consumers require businesses to be online"
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Especially since the reality of life has long been different.
"Consumers are increasingly demanding that companies have an online presence, while more and more start-ups set up their business directly online," the study says.
Reference is made to a survey according to which 87 percent of German consumers now expect companies to also sell online.
The majority of the business runs via Internet marketplaces, according to estimates they alone account for half of the sales in the end customer business.
This refers to platforms that small retailers can use to sell their goods, including the Amazon Marketplace, but also Ebay and Etsy or national sites such as Real and Conrad.
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