Germany: TOP 10 E-Commerce Companies with Highest Sales

According to our database (as of August 2022), Germany is the second largest e-commerce market in Europe. With total sales of EUR 99.1B in 2021, it’s ahead of France and behind the UK. Most of the largest e-commerce businesses in Germany were founded locally and expanded their operations to other European countries over time.

Otto (GmbH & Co KG), commonly referred to as the Otto Group, has five subsidiaries that are part of the TOP 10 list of e-commerce companies in Germany - ABOUT YOU Verwaltungs SE, bonprix Handelsges. mbH, OTTO, Josef Witt GmbH, Baur Versand (GmbH & Co KG). All these companies were launched in Germany. The same is true for zooplus AG, Zalando SE, and MMS E-Commerce GmbH. Two exceptions are eBay GmbH, a US-based eBay subsidiary, and QVC Handel S.à r.l. & Co. KG, which is also a subsidiary of a US-based entity.

Otto (GmbH & Co KG) had the highest sales in 2021 and 5 subsidiaries on the TOP 10 list

The largest company is Otto (GmbH & Co KG), also commonly referred to as the Otto Group. It has to be noted that Otto Group’s results represent consolidated numbers and therefore cover all subsidiaries of the Group together. Otto Group’s consolidated sales grew from EUR 14.2B to EUR 16.1B between 2019 and 2021. Five subsidiaries of the Otto Group are on the list of the TOP 10 e-commerce businesses in Germany.

Otto Group’s subsidiary OTTO increased its sales from EUR 3.5B to EUR 5.1B between 2019 and 2021. Today, OTTO is an eshop. The company was founded in 1949 when it started selling shoes through catalogues. The assortment was gradually expanded to include other consumer goods and clothing. Over the years, OTTO grew into the Otto Group and today several subsidiaries are part of the conglomerate.

Bonprix Handelsges.mbH, which is also part of the Otto Group, had sales of EUR 1.7B in 2020 (data for 2021 not available at the time of writing). Bonprix offers products like clothing, shoes and accessories for women, men and children, home textiles, furniture, and decorative items.

Another subsidiary of the Otto Group which is on the list of TOP 10 e-commerce companies is ABOUT YOU Verwaltungs SE. This online fashion retailer was founded in 2014 and is currently active in 24 European countries. ABOUT YOU had sales of EUR 1.1B in 2021, when it managed to cross the billion mark for the first time in the company’s history. In 2020, the company had sales of more than EUR 743M.

Another Otto Group subsidiary, Josef Witt GmbH, generated more than EUR 1B in sales in 2021. The company, which was initially called Witt Weiden, started as a clothes mail order business back in 1907 (earlier than its current parent company Otto Group).

The last subsidiary of the Otto Group on our list is Baur Versand (GmbH & Co KG) with EUR 993M in sales in 2021. Baur Versand was founded in 1925 as a mail order company selling shoes. In 1935, it became one of the first companies to introduce the right to return goods and gave its customers an option to pay in instalments. Today, Baur Versand focuses primarily on online sales of clothing and electronics, as well as logistics services and marketing.

Zalando SE had the highest sales among the remaining companies on the TOP 10 list

Zalando SE had the third highest sales in 2021. This online fashion retailer was founded in 2008 and is currently active in 17 European markets. In 2021, Zalando SE had sales of EUR 10.3B (year-on-year growth of 29%).

MMS E-Commerce GmbH was fourth with sales of more than EUR 2B in 2020 (data for 2021 not available at the time of writing). The company was founded in 1979. Today MMS consists of two companies - MediaMarkt and Saturn - both of which sell consumer electronics. MMS E-Commerce GmbH is owned by the retail company Ceconomy.

Zooplus AG’s was fifth with EUR 1.8B in sales in 2020 (data for 2021 not available at the time of writing). The company, founded in 1999, sells pet products.

Otto (GmbH & Co KG) had the highest profit both before and after tax in 2021

Not all companies’ financial results were available. Based on the data that was accessible at the time of writing, Otto (GmbH & Co KG) was in the best position, with an after-tax profit of EUR 1.8B in 2021 (year-on-year increase of more than 86%). Here, however, it must be noted that this is a consolidated result of the entire group. Zalando SE was second with an after-tax profit of EUR 234M in 2021. MMS E-Commerce GmbH was third with 554 thousand euros.

Otto (GmbH & Co KG) had the highest profit margin in 2021

Otto (GmbH & Co KG) was able to collect a net profit of more than 11 cents from each 1 euro of sales in 2021. Zalando SE got 2 cents from 1 euro of sales. ABOUT YOU Verwaltungs SE was in the weakest position with a negative profit margin.

Otto (GmbH & Co KG) had the highest number of employees in 2021, but that numbers had been decreasing

Otto (GmbH & Co KG), which employed more than 43,000 people in 2021, is a clear leader (consolidated data for the whole group). OTTO had more than 6,200 employees. Baur Versand (GmbH & Co KG) and Zalando employed 5,047 and 4,992 people respectively.