E-commerce in France and Germany a comparative analysis

Kurzfassung

E-commerce experienced strong growth in the last decades. Nowadays, there is hardly any product which cannot be purchased online. But as online sales are not successful for all types of articles, not all retail branches are affected in the same way by the development of e-commerce. Furthermore, depending on the type of purchased product different transport handling is required. Moreover we can find different developments of e-commerce in various countries. Even comparing neighbouring countries we can observe differences. The aim of the paper is, on a basis of a metastudy, a comparative study of the development of business-to-consumer e-commerce in France and Germany considering also consumer behaviour, online sellers as well as offered transport solutions. The results of the analysis regarding consumer behaviour revealed that home deliveries are the preferred option. Nevertheless we see that transport providers develop ideas to offer alternative delivery solutions, also pushed by online sellers who strongly participate in determine and shaping the offer of delivery services.