Shipping to Germany

eCommerce to Germany – facts and figures relating to online business

High purchasing power, outstanding infrastructure and a digitalized population - Germany has all the right conditions for successful eCommerce. With more than 83 million inhabitants, Germany is densely populated and one of Europe's biggest eCommerce markets. Its central geographical location in Europe and DHL Group as a qualified logistics company ensure optimal conditions for your goods transportation. More than two-thirds of Germans, 69.9 percent, make purchases online and are thus potential eCommerce customers. Germans between 18 and 53 years of age prefer to shop online using their smartphone. More than 91% of the population are of German origin. The largest ethnic group of non-German origin are Turks, who make up more than 3% of the population. Approximately 6% of the population are of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish origin.

(Sources: https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/ecommerce/germany und https://eurotext.de/blog/e-commerce-in-deutschland/ , https://www.destatis.de/EN/Home/_node.html , https://www.destatis.de/DE/Home/_inhalt.html, IPC domestic e-commerce shopper survey 2022 - Germany report)

Suitable integration channels

We help you find the perfect connection to our IT systems for your growing sales channels - allowing you to conveniently and flexibly make use of our services. Choose between our portal with its convenient user interface, our API for shipping and shipment tracking, or shipment solutions from third-party providers – many established software vendors have already integrated Deutsche Post solutions. Discover the right solution to meet your requirements here.

Packstation

Offer your customers flexible delivery with our parcel delivery services and integrate the Packstation into your webshop! German online customers value the individual delivery of their orders. Your customers can choose any Packstation from over 13,000 locations to receive and ship their parcels. The locations are listed at www.dhl.de/standorte.

Here's how:

The technical integration of DHL shipping services means you can quickly and easily integrate the Packstation and other services into your webshop - either via an API or via the available plug-ins of the shop software. You can choose from the following delivery services: Packstation, retail outlet/branch, preferred place, preferred neighbor or preferred delivery date.

https://www.dhl.de/de/geschaeftskunden/paket/versandsoftware/dhl-wunschzustellung.html

The DHL customer account also guarantees the recipient's identity: To receive a shipment addressed to a Packstation, customers must register for the service and activate the Post & DHL App on their smartphones. During registration for the Packstation service, the customer data is checked to prevent fraud and misuse.

For more information, see www.dhl.de/en/packstation.

Sustainability – offset the CO2e* emitted by your shipments with us

Since the beginning of 2023, we have been offsetting the CO2e* emitted by shipments automatically and at no extra charge. German consumers have a high level of environmental awareness, and this is reflected in their consumption, the development of organic and vegan products, low energy consumption products and so on. Participants in the IPC domestic eCommerce shopper survey 2022 in Germany were asked how much they agreed with a number of statements in connection with sustainable delivery – 26% strongly agreed that they would be willing to receive a parcel later in order to reduce its environmental impact, and 18% strongly agreed that they preferred a climate-neutral delivery. 23% were of the opinion that it was the responsibility of retailers, not consumers, to pay for sustainability.

With this in mind, our clear goal is to offer a comprehensive portfolio of green products and solutions for logistics. As the world’s leading logistics company, we recognize our responsibility to set a good example in our industry and assume a pioneering role in sustainability: we are reducing the carbon footprint of our activities directly at source. We are convinced that, working side by side with you, we can make a significant contribution to climate protection. Find out more about our commitment here!

Prohibited or restricted imports

The following products may require additional documentation or other regulatory approvals before they are released: Alcoholic beverages, fuels, biological substances (Category B UN3373), chemicals, cigarettes, cigars, and e-cigarettes, tea, coffee, cosmetics, medicines and dietary supplements, food, jewelry, perishable goods, plants, seeds, textiles, toy weapons.

Please refer to Chapters 7 and 8 of our Service Description for details of hazardous goods and prohibited items (Service and Handling Brochure for Deutsche Post Business Mail and Deutsche Post Packet (Deutsch), valid from January 2023, DHL Paket - Infoblatt - Gefahrgutversand, List of Prohibited Articles (upu.int).

Goods that originated outside the European Union (EU) to which free movement of goods within the EU does not apply, goods that contravene the import restrictions of the destination country and shipments for which the country of origin and the country of destination are identical (ABA Remailing) are excluded from transport. Other excluded goods are listed in the General Terms and Conditions. Deutsche Post Packet products may not be used by customers based in Germany (that is to say, export shipments from Germany are not allowed).