60% of German retailers advertise on social media

These data come from a new survey by German digital association Bitkom. For the report, 505 retail companies with 10 or more employees in Germany were surveyed, Ecommerce News Europe reports. Earlier this year, TikTok Shop launched in Germany. As a result, consumers can now shop at German sellers through this social media platform.

31% of retailers run paid advertising on social media

It seems that online sellers in the country have already realized how important it is to be active on social media as a business. Almost a third of them (31 percent) run paid advertising on these platforms. And around one in eight (13 percent) work with influencers.

More than half (56 percent) of German online sellers expect that social media will be indispensable marketing channels for the B2B sector in five years. And even 42 percent think that it will be the most important advertising platform for all retailers by then.

‘Social media is changing the purchasing process’

“Retail is increasingly taking place on social networks – including in Germany. Social media is fundamentally changing the purchasing process; there are now often only seconds between viewing a product and clicking ‘Buy’”, says Dr. Bernhard Rohleder, CEO of Bitkom.

Most popular platforms

The majority of retailers have a profile on Facebook (65 percent), while just over half (53 percent) are on Instagram. Additionally, 42 percent are on LinkedIn, while 40 percent are on Xing (the German equivalent of LinkedIn).

Three out of 10 are present on TikTok (30 percent), while almost two out of 10 have a channel on YouTube (19 percent). It seems that communication with customers on social media is not a one-way street. At least 37 percent of retailers say that their product range is influenced by trends on social media.

Sales happen mostly on websites

Even though these retailers are active on social media, the majority of online sales still happen on the retailer’s own website, which almost all companies have (97 percent). Mail orders are also popular (89 percent), as well as orders via online marketplaces (78 percent).

Yet, almost half of retailers say that social networks allow them to reach customers that are unreachable through more traditional sales channels (48 percent). Retailers think that ordering through social media will become more popular, as 33 percent believe that customers will primarily shop for products through these networks by 2030