Credit cards rise to the top in German e-commerce

This is one of the results of the E-Commerce Report 2010 by Deutsche Card Services. German consumers use credit cards to pay for 38% of their purchases. In the preceding years, direct debits were the most popular payment method, followed by giropay. This new payment method developed by the German credit institutions is based on the well-known online banking PIN and TAN procedure. Seasonal fluctuations are small in European e-commerce now. This is a marked difference from stationary business. Moreover, Tuesday lost its status as the most popular day for online shopping to Monday. For the first time, women have left men behind in e-commerce. However, the average transaction value declined from a record high of EUR 84.31 in the preceding year to EUR 65.35.

The E-Commerce Report analyses purchasing and payment behaviour and non-payment risks in online trade; the study has been published annually since 2002. In contrast to other research, the study by the Deutsche Bank subsidiary is based on real-life purchases and not on surveys. It starts from about 24 million transactions processed via the Deutsche Card Services platform. All data are fully anonymised and comply with all data-protection requirements. The study is available from the online shop of Deutsche Card Services.

General e-commerce trends:

* Credit card most popular in Germany now
* Fewer seasonal fluctuations
* Monday with the largest sales
* Women predominate for the first time
* Decline in the average transaction value
* Importance of giropay increasing further