For success in the German market, it is essential to seamlessly tailor your website to the wants and needs of German consumers. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for these consumers is the lack of their preferred payment option. After putting a lot of effort into reaching German consumers through marketing, you don't want them to drop out at the final stage. What can you do to make sure they actually complete their purchase? The recently published EHI study "Online-Payment 2023" provides insight into the evolution of payment preferences in Germany.
More conversion tips? We would be happy to advise you on how to optimize your German webshop.
PayPal is the favorite for online shopping
German customers prefer to pay with PayPal when shopping online. In 2022, PayPal surpassed for the first time the traditionally popular payment method, buying on account (Kauf auf Rechnung), in terms of revenue shares in e-commerce. A total of 29.6% of online purchases in 2022 were paid with PayPal, up slightly from 28.2% in 2021.
Other popular payment methods
After PayPal, purchase on account (Kauf auf Rechnung) comes second with a 23.8% market share, down 4.5 percentage points from the previous year. Lastschriftverfahren/Bankeinzug (direct debit) is in third place with 20.9% and credit cards follow in fourth place with 12.1%. The digital payment platform Giropay, offered by German banks and savings banks, saw a significant increase from 0.4% to 1.6% last year.
Rise of "Buy Now Pay Later"
A trending concept in the payments industry is "Buy now, pay later" (BNPL). This allows customers to avoid direct debit from their account, which is basically like using a consumer credit. The survey found that more than three-quarters of merchants surveyed (76.9%) offer such a service in their online store. The most commonly used BNPL payment method was purchase on account (Kauf auf Rechnung) at 67%, followed by PayPal at 43% and staggered payment/financing (Ratenkauf/Finanzierung) at 24%.
To achieve the right alignment for your web shop, it is essential to stay abreast of these trends and the preferences of your target audience.
Do you want to optimize your webshop for the German market? Then get in touch with us!
