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There are, however, a range of other German marketplaces
available to you, some of which we’ve outlined below.
Hitmeister.de
With
around 2.5 million customers, Hitmeister is
one of Germany’s leading marketplaces for new and used products, across a range
of different categories including Electronics, Garden & DIY and Fashion
& Accessories.
Hitmeister,
which has positioned itself as a German counterpart to Amazon, is also a
favourable option amongst sellers as it does not charge listing fees. Several
other benefits to selling on the Hitmeister marketplace include its’ renowned
customer service, which you can benefit from as a seller, as well as the fact
it provides you with legal seller protection and gives your customers the
option of various payment methods.
Zalando.de
Zalando is a fashion eCommerce site, in
fact it is the largest online fashion retailer in Germany and is also present
in 15 European countries. With over 100 million unique monthly visitors, it is
a marketplace that you should be setting your sights on if you’re in the
Fashion retail industry.
As a
result of its status and extensive customer base, retailers that wish to list
on the site are subject to selection criteria, and will have to meet certain
standards of product quality, while also being in-line with their current
product offering.
Alongside
Amazon.de and eBay.de, Zalando is one of the few German marketplaces to also
operate as a vendor. What this means is, while some of the other marketplaces
we have listed are made up entirely of external vendors, Zalando also provides
its own product ranges.
OTTO
OTTO is a leading German fashion and
lifestyle marketplace, selling over 2 million products from around 5,000
brands, including itself. It is the second largest eCommerce company in
Germany, after Amazon, and while it is mainly present in Germany and France, it
does operate in more than 20 countries.
When
selling on the OTTO marketplace, sellers are provided with a range of benefits
including inexpensive access to a large customer-base, as well as being able to
leverage their extensive marketing expertise.
Yatego
Described
as an online shopping mall, Yatego features
more than 10,000 online shops from a range of specialists and retailers. The
marketplace sells products across an extensive range of categories, including
car accessories, health & beauty, furniture, fashion and sports equipment.
In
addition to being able to access a large, active customer base, as a Yatego
seller you can benefit from a personal advisor during your first four weeks of
selling, legal seller protection and you can even link directly to your own
store.
DeWanda
If you
are seeing success on the Etsy marketplace, then you should consider DeWanda, as it has a very similar customer
profile.
Specifically,
DeWanda is a marketplace for handmade products, and is provided in 7 languages,
so that you can sell in all of the countries. This does, however, require you
to include product descriptions in all of those languages if you wish to sell
to each of these countries. You should also be aware that while there aren’t
monthly fees for selling on the site, there is a 5% transaction fee on sales.
Tips
for selling in Germany
Translate and localise your content
When
selling into Germany, it is expected that listings will be provided in the
German language. As a result, you will need to find a good translation provider
that can ensure your listings are not only translated, but are also localised.
Do bear in mind that some marketplaces will offer translation services.
In
addition, you should ideally provide customer service in the local language.
German customers, like all other online buyers, aren’t afraid to pick up the
phone or send an email and speak with the company in which they are purchasing
from, and as such, you should be able to provide German speaking support.
Although it probably isn’t viable that you hire a German speaking customer
support representative, there are service providers available, such as Intercultural Elements, who will help you set
up and manage international customer support.
Expect high return rates
You
should be aware that Germany has one of the highest return rates on the
continent, as high as 70% for fashion retail and around 5-10% for electronics
goods. Don’t let this put you off selling into Germany though, as we would
argue that the benefits outweigh this negative, but if you are concerned about
international returns, have a read of this article that outlines how you can make your
international returns easy and profitable.
Secure payment options
Germans
tend to avoid credit cards and many favour options to pay through invoice, as
well as debit cards, bank transfers, Giropay and PayPal. When looking for a
marketplace, we would recommend that you look at the payment methods they
accept and how secure they are as a site, as this is will largely influence
buyer's purchase decisions in Germany.
Delivery Speed
There is
no denying that German customers expect their goods to be delivered in a timely
manner, and it is for this reason that quick, reliable delivery services are
integral. When selling internationally, however, there is the small matter of
logistics that needs to be considered, something that is a huge challenge for
many cross-border traders.
SEE ALSO: Amazon FBA or eBay
GSP: What You Need To Know About These International Fulfilment Services
Fortunately,
with a shipping aggregator such as Parcel
Station, you will be able to access the best rates for your
international delivery, in fact you can send a parcel to Germany in 3-5 days,
for as low as £4.
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