Country Focus: Germany
Typisch Deutsch
With just over 83 million inhabitants, Germany has the highest population in all of Europe. But the country is top of the line in more regards than one. Unsurprising to us at Aqipa, Germany is the most popular location for trade shows worldwide, with two thirds of leading international fairs taking place there every year (see you at IFA 2022).
Apart from that, Germany is also home to some of the most prominent figures in history, music, science, literature, sports and politics, from Ludwig van Beethoven to Albert Einstein to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to Angela Merkel. Before we dive deeper into this fascinating country where most of the highways don’t have speed limits and escaping prison on the basic human instinct of wanting to be free is legal, let’s hear some more fun facts.
Fun fact time
- Big into beer! Germany has over 1,200 breweries producing over 5,000 brands of German beer. The Germans love beer so much, they built the biggest beer festival in the world around it. Those who’ve been there and even those who haven’t know that the standard measure of beer at Munich’s renowned Oktoberfest is an entire litre or “Maß”. In the whole of Bavaria, beer is actually considered food! Cheers to that 🍻.
- While beer is the preferred German drink, football is the preferred German sport. The country has more football clubs than any other in the world. Its national team has won the World Cup four times, and since 1976, it was only once that they lost a penalty shootout at a major competition. Watching football ⚽ is a beloved German pastime, especially when combined with drinking beer.
- Weihnachtsliebe – Germany not only started the global tradition of setting up a 🎄 for the December festivities, but also introduced the magic that is Christmas market culture to the planet. Christmas fans everywhere will forever be thankful.
Economy
Germany’s economy is a highly developed social market economy – the largest in Europe, the fourth largest globally by nominal GDP and the fifth largest by GDP (PPP). A founding member of the European Union, Germany accounts for 28% of the total euro economy. The nation is Europe’s biggest manufacturing economy and one of the biggest exporters in the world.
The most exported goods include vehicles, machinery, chemicals, electronics, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, transport equipment, basic metals, foods, rubber and plastics. 53 of the world’s 2000 strongest-selling publicly listed companies are headquartered in Germany – among them Allianz, Daimler, Volkswagen, Siemens, BMW, Deutsche Telekom, Bayer, BASF, Munich Re and SAP.
Ecosystem
Germany is our biggest market. According to Retail-Index, the Corona pandemic initially caused a 10% decrease to the German economy; however, certain sectors performed continually well throughout: food, DIY and consumer electronics. The German retail landscape is carried by discounters and (supermarket) corporations such as Edeka, Lidl & Kaufland (both of Schwarz Gruppe), Rewe and MediaMarkt/Saturn as well as online titles like Amazon and Otto. In 2021, the following stores were the biggest players in the German consumer electronics retail sector:
MediaMarktSaturn
- Headquarters in Ingolstadt
- 405 branches
- 21,687 employees
- 9.7 billion € turnover
Expert
- German main office in Langenhagen (headquarters in Zug, Switzerland)
- 405 branches
- 14,000+ employees
- 2 billion € turnover
- 446,000 m² total retail space
Euronics
- German main office in Ditzingen (headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- 1,300 branches
- 11,000+ employees
- 1.6 billion € turnover
- 380,000+ m² total retail space
EP (Electronic Partner)
- Headquarters in Düsseldorf
- 300 branches
- 500+ employees
- 1.4 billion € turnover
Amazon
- German main office in Munich (headquarters in Seattle, USA)
- 44 million German return online customers
- 20,000+ employees
- 33 billion € turnover (of 15 billion € turnover in 2020, 5 million € were in CE)
Competing online
The e-commerce segment makes up more than a quarter of all retail sales in Germany. Other than Amazon, noteworthy online players in the German retail space include MediaMarkt Online with 1.2 € billion, Otto with 650 € million, NBB with 600 € million, Apple with 530 € million, Cyberport with 460 € million , ALTERNATE with 380 € million and Conrad with 320 € million in turnover.
Leading brands
Household Items
- Braun (wide range of products from shavers and hair dryers to coffee makers and blenders)
- SodaStream (carbonators)
- Jacobs, Tchibo, Lavazza, Nestlé (coffee)
TV
- Samsung
- LG Electronics
- TCL
- Sony
- Panasonic
Audio
- Sennheiser
- Teufel
- Apple
- JBL
- Samsung
- Sony
- Marshall
- Beats
- Bose
Radio
- Pure
- Sony
- Dual
- Kenwood & JVC
- TechniSat
Action Gear
Relevant influencers
Germany has a sizeable media landscape, offering technology coverage aplenty. The arguably most influential German tech publication is Computer Bild with 50+ million monthly website visitors. Outlets active in the review realm of consumer electronics include Connect, Lowbeats, LikeHifi, HIFI.DE, Hifi Journal, Hifi Test and Fidelity Online.
Of course, German tech reviewers have also tackled the video space. These are some of the most popular YouTube channels:
- AlexiBexi (1.5m followers)
- TuToTV (940k followers)
- Felixba (750k followers)
- HardwareDealz (560k followers)
- iKnowReview (470k followers)
AQIPA Insights
Our German gear gurus answered some questions to give you a better idea of how Aqipa tackles its biggest market!
If you had to define the one thing that really differentiates German retail from other markets, what would it be?
In Germany, we have high margins to offer as well as the desired back conditions. It’s similar to Austria in that sense.
If you could wish for one thing to set German retail apart from other markets, what would it be?
In an ideal world, retailers would be more open to new brands and opportunities. It can be really tricky to get new retailers on board – fresh brands and new categories always pose a challenge. It’s difficult.
Describe our organization and strengths in the market!
In Germany, we have very long-standing and good partnerships with our customers in almost all areas. Our sales team consists of 20 skilled individuals with the power to make rapid progress in the decentralized business of stationary retailers.
AQIPA Brands
- Adidas Headphones
- AGA/Aqvia
- Baristaclub Coffee Concept
- Blueair
- Braun Audio
- CaseLogic
- Ecovacs
- eMeet
- Esoteric
- GoPro
- Hombli
- Hyperice
- Integra
- JLab
- Marshall
- Milo
- Mysoda
- Onkyo
- Pioneer DJ
- Pioneer
- Polaroid
- Pure
- Sjöstrand
- TEAC
- Thule
- Unagi
- Urbanears
- Vieta Pro
- XGIMI
- Zingali
If you have any questions regarding our business in Germany, don’t hesitate to reach out to our on-site expert guru Thomas Stauber.
