Amazon has maintained its position as the lowest-priced online retailer in Germany for the third year, according to Profitero’s latest Price Wars study. The annual report, which tracks prices on more than 10,300 products across 11 major German online retailers, found Amazon led as the lowest-priced German online retailer, boasting a 15% average price difference compared to rivals. While some retailers narrowed the price gap to grow more competitive with Amazon, other retailers continued to lose to Amazon by a wide margin.
Otto closed the gap with Amazon in several significant categories, specifically fashion, home furnishings, household supplies and sports & outdoors. The German online retailer was on average 15% more expensive than Amazon compared to 17% more expensive last year, across 13 categories analyzed.
Kaufland is struggling the most to stay competitive with Amazon. The discount retailer narrowed the difference compared to last year, but prices are on average 26% more expensive than Amazon (down from 30% last year). Kaufland’s least competitive category remains baby, but the retailer made significant progress going from 49% more expensive to 35% than Amazon compared to last year.
Tug-of-war in toys: Toys and games remained fiercely competitive, with Media Markt, Otto, and Saturn keeping prices within 10% of Amazon’s. Saturn and Media Markt were also just 6% more expensive than Amazon on appliances.
Beauty price gap widens: DM, Kaufland, Rossmann, and Zalando grew pricier versus Amazon compared to last year, with Zalando jumping from 9% to 18% more expensive. Otto held steady at 18% higher than Amazon, unchanged from last year.
Health & personal care tightens: Amazon’s price lead in health and personal care shrank from 13% to 12% compared to last year. Kaufland showed the most improvement, cutting its gap from 36% to 27% compared to last year.
"German consumers are still grappling with tough economic conditions and stubborn inflation, which will undoubtedly impact holiday spending. Retailers who can consistently offer competitive prices will have the edge in attracting budget-conscious shoppers," said Mike Black, Chief Growth Officer at Profitero.
To read this year’s report and to find out more about how retailers compare in price, please visit: https://www.profitero.com/report/price-wars-de-2024
Only identical items available and in-stock in the same pack configuration were compared. Data was collected daily over 12 weeks (08 July - 29 Sept, 2024), with daily prices averaged over the full period for comparison. Prices for the same items were collected within 24 hours of each other to ensure validity of the comparisons. To refer to past Profitero Price Wars studies, please go to: profitero.com/insights.
Retailers featured in the study included: Amazon, DM, eBay, Kaufland, Media Markt., Notebooksbilliger, Otto, Rossmann, Saturn, Zalando & Zooplus
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