Zalando, Auto1, About You: Top 5 eCommerce Companies in Germany

Most Valuable German eCommerce Companies 2024: Key Insights

• Zalando Takes the Crown: Zalando leads German eCommerce companies in both market capitalization (US$7.28 billion) and revenue (US$10.9 billion).

• Auto1's Rapid Growth: Auto1 Group SE demonstrates significant revenue growth, from US$3.09 billion in 2020 to US$6.01 billion in 2023.

• About You Keeping Up: After successful years for About You Holding SE , the revenue dropped from US$2.13 billion in 2022 to US$2.06 billion in 2023.

Who are the leaders in German eCommerce? After already covering the most valuable U.S. and European eCommerce businesses, it is now time to look at the top 5 eCommerce players in the German market and take a closer look at important metrics such as revenues, country and category distribution, and more. The list is based on the latest market capitalization figures.

Top 5 Most Valuable German eCommerce Companies 

As of April 2024, Zalando SE is the leading eCommerce company in Germany with a market capitalization of US$7.28 billion, more than three times the size of its nearest competitor. In addition to topping the German ranking, Zalando is also one of the most valuable European eCommerce companies. Zooplus SE, a long-established player in the German market, ranks second with a market capitalization of US$2.08 billion.

Behind we have Auto1 Group SE taking the spot as the third most valuable eCommerce in Germany with a market cap of US$1.06 billion. Auto1 is followed by About You Holding SE and Jumia Technologies AG with market capitalizations of US$830 million and US$540 million, respectively.

But it is not just the total value of a company that matters. In addition, total revenue is the key to understanding a company's financial health.

Most Valuable German eCommerce Companies: Zalando Also Leads in Revenue

In terms of revenue, Zalando SE still tops the list with US$10.92 billion in 2023. An amount almost double as much as the second place again. This time the order behind Zalando has changed compared to the market cap list, as Auto1 Group SE can secure second place with a revenue of US$6.01 billion.

Close behind comes About You Holding SE and Zooplus SE with recent revenues of US$2.25 billion and US$2.06 billion, respectively. Jumia Technologies AG is in fifth place again with a revenue of US$190 million.

Now that we have seen how the top online shopping companies in Germany compare in terms of revenue, let us take a closer look at each of them. We will give a brief overview of each and track how their sales have changed over the past few years.

1. Zalando SE

Founded in Berlin in 2008, Zalando started as an online marketplace for shoes, but quickly focused on general clothing. Today, 89.9% of its revenue comes from fashion, with the rest contributed by personal care, furniture & homewares, and electronics.

Not only has the product range expanded, but so has the company's appetite for other markets. While 29.5% of Zalando SE's sales still come from its home market of Germany, France and Switzerland account for 9.2% and 8.4% respectively.

The expansion of products and markets has paid off for Zalando. After finishing 2019 with online revenue of US$7.26 billion, Zalando benefited from the increase in online shopping during the pandemic, reaching sales of US$9.11 billion and US$12.25 billion in 2020 and 2021. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.9% from 2019 to 2021. In 2022 and 2023, Zalando's sales dropped to US$11.57 billion and US$10.92 billion, respectively.

2. Zooplus SE

Zooplus offers online shops for pet supplies in various countries with a focus on Europe. While the largest share of the 1999 established company revenue comes from its home country Germany with 22.1%, it shows popularity in France with 13.9% and Poland with 11.5%, as well as many other contributions in the rest of Europe, showing the established status of Zooplus all over Europe.

Looking at the revenue of the past few years, the data shows a familiar pattern as before during the pandemic years: the pet supplier could reach revenue of US$1.71 billion in 2019 and continue to increase to US$2.06 billion and US$2.47 billion in 2020 and 2021. The upwards trend ended in 2022, as the revenue declined to US$2.12 billion but could get back to US$ 2.25 billion in 2023.

3. Auto1 Group SE

Founded in 2012, Auto1 Group SE is a European eCommerce company for the sale of used cars in more than 30 countries and with more than 60,000 dealers. According to Auto1, more than 585,500 cars were sold through its websites in 2022.

Looking at recent years, Auto1 could increase its revenue from US$3.09 billion in 2020 to US$5.54 billion the following year. This increase was just the beginning for Auto1 Group SE as they could significantly improve their numbers again in 2022 to US$6.88 billion. These improvement with a CAGR of 33.9% ended in 2023, as the Revenue dropped to US$6.01 billion.

4. About You Holding SE

Founded in 2014, the Hamburg-based fashion marketplace generates 48% of its revenue from bags and accessories, with the rest coming from apparel (32%) and footwear (20%). About You's largest market is the German market, with almost half of its revenue (52.1%) coming from its home country. Together with 7.4% from the Netherlands and 4.5% from Switzerland, the marketplace is spread across Europe, with smaller shares in North America and Australia.

About You SE has seen its company flow in recent years: The eCommerce player reached a revenue of US$0.82 billion in 2019, which it could improve in 2020 and 2021 to US$1.33 and US$2.05 billion. After these successful years with a CAGR of 58.11% in 2022, About You Holding SE could not continue its improvement at this strong pace, but still end the year on a positive note, as the revenue increased to US$2.13 billion, before declining back to US$2.06 billion in 2023.

5. Jumia Technologies AG

Although Jumia Technologies AG was founded in Germany in 2012 and is still headquartered there, the company does not participate in the German market at all with its marketplaces. The main countries of distribution are spread across Africa, with 46.4% of revenues coming from Nigeria, while the rest is contributed by Morocco (23.3%), Kenya (17.1%), Ghana (8.6%) and South Africa (4.1%).

Like Jumia's markets, the products offered on their marketplaces are spread across various categories. The largest share comes from electronics (27.2%), followed by personal care (18.8%), fashion (16.5%) and hobby & leisure (14.8%).

Looking at recent years, Jumia Technologies ended 2019 with revenue of US$179.5 million, followed by a decline in 2020 with revenue of US$159.4 million. However, Jumia rebounded in the following years by increasing its revenue to US$177.9 million and US$221.9 million in 2021 and 2022, respectively. In 2023, the revenue dropped back to US$186 million.

Most Valuable German eCommerce Companies 2024: Closing Remarks

To conclude our list of the leading eCommerce companies in Germany, Zalando SE takes the top spot in our rankings with the highest market capitalization of US$7.28 billion, but it also tops the revenue list by a solid margin over its competitors. The question for Zalando is: how can the fashion marketplace return to its peak sales in 2021?

Auto1 Group SE shows significant improvement, as its revenue numbers account for the biggest rise of any company on our list in recent years. With revenues of US$6 billion in 2023, its numbers are already higher than the revenues Zooplus SE.

It will also be interesting to see if Jumia Technologies AG can keep itself in the list of the top 5 eCommerce companies in Germany. By focusing only on selected African markets, the player is lagging in revenue to its competitors in the German market.

What is Market Capitalization?

Market capitalization, often abbreviated as market cap, is the total value of all a company's shares. It is calculated by multiplying the share price by the total number of shares outstanding. Market capitalization is important because it allows investors to compare the relative size of one company to another.