- Germans prefer to go online to find sustainable products.
- Regional products are visible on the web beyond the mass market.
- Lower market entry thresholds for sustainable niche providers.
Four out of ten Germans are ready to shop more sustainably in the new year. However, higher prices and a lack of selection represent hurdles. You will find what you are looking for mainly in online shops. This is shown by a current and representative survey by the Federal Association of E-Commerce and Mail Order Germany eV (bevh) together with the opinion research company Civey.
When asked “What do you think speaks against consuming more sustainably than before?” 39.9 percent of the consumers surveyed answered “nothing”, but for 29.9 percent sustainable shopping often still seemed “too expensive” (second most common Reply). More than one in five (22 percent) say that the search for more sustainable products is “too time-consuming” (third most common answer).
“Most customers would be willing to buy more sustainable products. Finding an environmentally friendly alternative to a conventional product involves additional effort. This is particularly true for price-sensitive customers who consider sustainable products to be more expensive. They are often only willing to be interested in an offer if they find a large selection and comparability of prices – and if possible without having to search for a long time,” explains Daniela Bleimaier, Head of Public Affairs Germany & Regional Affairs at bevh.
How successful the product search is, however, depends heavily on the sales channel. When asked “Where are you most likely to find sustainable products (e.g. clothing made from organic cotton, fairly manufactured products, CO 2 -neutral products)?” , more than a third (34.0 percent) answered “in online retail”, only 19 2 percent of customers feel they are in good hands when choosing from brick-and-mortar retailers. The remaining 46.8 percent of respondents showed no preferences.
“Customers draw from the comparatively large variety of sustainable offers on the Internet. There it is also easier to find products that are sold outside of the mass market and well-known corporate brands. Lesser-known niche providers in particular therefore use online channels to make their products easily accessible to a larger audience,” explains Daniela Bleimaier and continues: “For the large number of small, regional providers, it is difficult to get their sustainable goods onto the shelves of the large retail chains bring to. Space there is physically limited and not open to all manufacturers. For niche providers, online sales – be it via their own shop, in social media or on digital marketplaces – is therefore a great advantage.”
On behalf of bevh, the opinion research company Civey surveyed 1,005 online shoppers between 16. and Interviewed December 17. The results are representative for the residents of Germany aged 18 and over. The statistical error of the overall results is 5.5 percent.
Source: bevh.org
