• German small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) exported products worth more than 2.5 billion euros via Amazon in 2018 – an increase of nearly 20 percent year over year.
  • Tens of thousands of German SMEs exported more than 90 million products to customers outside of Germany.
  • More than 80 percent of German SMEs selling through Amazon Stores export to customers all over the world.
  • The German export champions on Amazon Stores are from North Rhine-Westphalia. The strongest percentage growth in international sales via Amazon Stores is recorded by SMEs in Hamburg.

MUNICH, 05/03/2019 – According to a survey by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany[1], German exports in 2018 were 3 percent higher than in 2017. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) from Germany selling on Amazon Stores could even achieve an increase of nearly 20 percent compared to last year – with record export sales of more than 2.5 billion euros. The German export champions on Amazon Stores are from North Rhine-Westphalia. The strongest percentual sales growth in international sales via Amazon, on the other hand, was recorded in Hamburg.
Tens of thousands of German SMEs exported more than 90 million products to millions of customers outside of Germany in 2018. They were able to reach them via www.amazon.de or one of the other 13 Amazon websites worldwide that are available in 12 languages. More than 80 percent of German SMEs already export their products to customers all over the world e.g. in countries such as Sri Lanka, Jordan and Trinidad and Tobago. Globally, more than 50% of units sold on Amazon come from small and medium-sized businesses and third-party sales are growing faster than Amazon´s first-party sales.

“An increase in export figures by almost a fifth within one year is a great success for German SMEs selling via Amazon Stores. It shows how much they benefit from the opportunities given in e-commerce,” said Dr. Markus Schöberl, Director Amazon Seller Services Germany. “We want to continue to support small and medium-sized businesses in reaching their customers worldwide, creating new Jobs and contributing to economic growth in Germany.”

More than 130,000 small and medium-sized businesses from Europe are selling via Amazon Stores. The top exporters are British SMEs with international sales of more than 2.8 billion euros, followed by Germany with more than 2.5 billion euros, Italy (more than 500 million euros), Spain (more than 400 million euros) and France (more than 350 million euros). According to a study by the business consulting firm Keystone Strategy, more than 200,000 people in Europe are employed by independent businesses to run their sales on Amazon Stores. German SMEs employ more than 75,000 people for their sales on Amazon Stores.
The company “Mercatura Warenhandel GmbH” from Moers in North Rhine-Westphalia has been selling on Amazon since 2014, starting as a one-man start-up and now employing four people. Managing Director Tobias Jaroschek says: "We have sold our products Europe-wide from day one. Initially, exports accounted for 0.1 percent of our sales, but by 2018 we had increased this share to over 55 percent. We are now selling our products in almost 20 countries. The longest journey was made by a parcel to Hyvinkää, Finland. From our point of view, exporting via Amazon is the best way for small businesses to reach many people worldwide."
Peer-Arne Böttcher is Managing Director of AIRY in Hamburg. The company produces eco-filters for air purification and has been selling them on Amazon since 2016. Peer-Arne Böttcher says: "We want to enable people on this planet to breathe clean air again. Amazon is a very important partner for us. Our company is growing rapidly, and we are now active in more than 30 countries."

Via Amazon SMEs can reach millions of customers worldwide. Amazon offers a range of tools that SMEs can use to export their products abroad. These include, for example, global sales, marketing and delivery solutions. When using Amazon logistics this also includes customer service in the local language. Besides Fulfillment by Amazon SMEs can use “Seller fulfilled Prime” to reach Amazon’s Prime customers. Additionally, Amazon translates hundreds of millions of product pages for SMEs every year enabling them to enter the international trade with no or only little additional effort.
Amazon offers SMEs the opportunity to gain new customers for their creative and innovative products with programs like Amazon Handmade – especially for artisans – and Amazon Launchpad for start-ups. On Amazon Storefronts customers can find products from German SMEs only and learn more about the people behind the local companies in their profiles.
You can find more information on small and medium-sized businesses on Amazon and how they support the German economy on our website (in German).

About Amazon
Amazon.com is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfilment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.
Note:
Base of the data points are third party sellers on Amazon that have chosen the Professional Selling plan. The number of employees of Amazon third-party sellers is estimated based in an internal poll of businesses selling on Amazon, conducted by the independent consultancy firm Keystone Strategy.

[1] https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2019/02/PD19_047_51.html