Germans are at home with online shopping

Germans are buying more presents online than any other European country this Christmas, according to the latest research by Forrester.

The study proclaimed Germany the champion in European ecommerce, with a turnover of E715m (£440m) to date. German shoppers are increasingly turning away from stores and the mail order business, moving towards online purchasing as service is better and reliable. The rise has been attributed to the recent abolition by the German government of a law which prevented e-tailers offering reductions and free gift offers online. In addition, Germany's law prohibits shops from opening after 20:00 (CET) at the weekend and after 18:00 (CET) on Saturdays. E-tailing nonetheless accounts for only 0.4 per cent of all retailing carried out in Germany. Abigail Leland, analyst at Forrester Research, predicted this figure will rise to ten per cent within the next ten years. Britain came in second with revenue to date totaling E664m (£409m), while France took third place with E292m (£177m).