Shopping Behavior: The Golden Hours of eCommerce

eCommerce has been gaining an ever greater share in overall retail sales in the past years, and there is no end to this development in sight. Not least because the global coronavirus pandemic brought along lockdowns of stationary retail have many consumers turned to online shopping especially in the first half of 2020. After the German eCommerce business had seen a sharp drop in sales in the first phase of the corona crisis, the industry recovered quickly and reached new sales heights in the second quarter of 2020. With a year-on-year growth of 16.5%, German eCommerce grew way above average in Q2 2020, according to the German association for eCommerce and the mail order business bevh. But when exactly do German consumers shop online? What time of day do they prefer to browse through online stores and conclude purchases? The German online payment provider Klarna has analyzed conversion data of German consumers. The results of the analysis can be a useful targeting instrument for online retailers.

The most lucrative days for online retailers in Germany are Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday – with the evening hours between 6pm and 8pm being the most popular time of day for German online shoppers across all product categories. Sunday evening plays a special role: It seems to be the ideal time to shop for most German consumers – several product categories reach their sales heights on 6 or 7pm on Sundays. The product categories that have their peak times on Sunday evening are children products – with a sales plus of +167% compared to the average hourly sales volume – leisure, sport & hobby (+135%), clothing & shoes (+124%), and home & garden (+121%). Products from the categories automotive and erotic materials are primarily bought online after the weekend: The categories reach an increase in sales of 152% respectively 162% compared to the average hourly sales volume on Monday evenings at 7pm respectively 8pm. The bestselling time for entertainment products is Tuesday, 6pm. This is when products from this category reach a sales plus of 119%.