By Sarah Sloat
FRANKFURT--German retailer association HDE on Wednesday
confirmed its outlook for a 1.5% rise in sales this year, with
online shopping fueling overall growth and triggering structural
change in the sector.
HDE estimates sales will reach 456.8 billion euros ($600
billion) this year, a nominal rise of 1.5%. Some EUR38.7 billion of
that will stem from e-commerce, HDE said.
The growth in online transactions is propping up sagging sales
in physical stores, where retailers report a strong decline in
shopper traffic on the ground, HDE said. Only about 30% of
Germany's bricks-and-mortar retailers have an online presence, some
of them via online channels like eBay Inc. (EBAY) or Amazon.com
Inc.'s (AMZN) Marketplace platform.
The trend toward online shopping spells dramatic change for the
sector in coming years, where more store closures seem inevitable,
HDE said. The association suggests it could be time to reconsider
Germany's restrictive shopping hours among other changes that would
make downtown shopping more attractive.
Last week, the German statistics office reported retail sales
fell 1.4% in July, and market research group GfK released its
consumer climate index, which showed a decline in income
expectations and willingness to spend.
HDE acknowledged the decline in Germany's gross domestic product
in the last quarter, but said other economic factors like healthy
employment, low inflation and interest rates still underpin
consumption.
Write to Sarah Sloat at sarah.sloat@wsj.com