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Despite a dampened mood among consumers this year, the opportunity for industry growth remains. The Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel Deutschland e. V. (bevh) reports that although German e-commerce sales in the first three quarters were 4.4 percent below the same period last year, they are still 27.2 percent higher than the same period in the pre-Corona year of 2019. The Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE) also predicts a sales growth for online retail in the current year, even though the forecast was lowered by one percentage point to 12.4 percent.
Most sellers surveyed experienced no sales losses on Kaufland.de
Mid-way through the year, we conducted a survey among our sellers on the development of sales at Kaufland.de in 2022. The results reveal that the majority of Kaufland marketplace sellers experienced no decrease in sales on Kaufland.de for the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021. These sellers are very optimistic that this trend will continue for the second half of the year, as more than half of them also expect their sales to remain stable.
In general, however, all the sellers surveyed are cautious about the second half of 2022. Around 70 percent of all respondents expect sales to decline during this period. By far the main reason cited for this is rising inflation and the subsequent decline in consumers‘ purchasing power.
But how is it looking right now? We now find ourselves in the final third of 2022, so we checked with our sellers.
Kaufland Global Marketplace asked: How will sellers on Kaufland.de fare during the second half of 2022?
We spoke with Katharina Schmidt, Junior Business Development Manager at Mister Sandman from North Rhine-Westphalia, and Thorben Bollmann, CEO at PremiumXL, based in Lower Saxony. Both online sellers successfully sell in the Furniture and Home category on Kaufland.de.
Sales on Kaufland.de remain stable
Contrary to the sales development expected by the survey participants and a dampened consumer mood, Kaufland.de seller Mister Sandman continues to have stable sales in the second half of the year. Katharina attributes this, among other things, to progressive investments in the company: “Our sales with Kaufland.de remained stable during the second half of the year. Even at times like these, we make investments and closely monitor supply and demand. In addition, we are building several pillars of success, which help us gain independence from specific markets”.
Thorben Bollmann also views at the second half of the year positively, as PremiumXL has seen sales growth on Kaufland.de this year. He considers the main reasons for this to be the development of the product range and the constant efforts to achieve the best possible price-performance ratio, all while offering outstanding customer service. However, it’s still the employees who play the decisive role: “This sales growth would have been inconceivable without good customer service. Our customer service team makes a significant contribution to customer satisfaction. One of the main reasons our customers return to us is the excellent customer care”.
Seller tips: Remain confident and adapt your strategy to current developments
When asked what tips they would give other Kaufland sellers to counteract the dampened mood among consumers, Katharina Schmidt and Thorben Bollmann both replied that focusing on the key products and processes is crucial: “Sellers should set priorities, focus on the important issues, and simply let go of unprofitable processes and projects. At PremiumXL, we also keep an eye on falling demand and act on it early. Strategic merchandise management and warehousing play a particularly important role here”, explains Thorben Bollmann. Katharina Schmidt adds: “Some time ago, we reduced our range to key products while constantly acquiring new sales opportunities. Working as a team, we at Mister Sandman have successfully created a stable revenue base on Kaufland.de by staying flexible and adaptable, while always keeping customer satisfaction in mind”.
It is easy to summarise the recommendations of both sellers: Continuously adapt the current product range according to developments and demand, and be realistic when planning investments.
We want to help you constantly improve your performance on Kaufland.de and remain adaptable. Therefore, we have gathered a few tips for you below on how to optimise your items on Kaufland.de in time for the Christmas shopping season, and thus increase sales.
Optimisation tips for increased sales on Kaufland.de
Check out our step-by-step guide and optimise your items in time for the upcoming Christmas shopping season:
- Check that the mandatory attributes are correctly saved for all your items to ensure that all your offers are visible. The Invalid Items Report can help you here.
- Check your product data quality against the Product Data Guidelines and provide customers with all relevant product information in a clear and understandable way.
- Adjust your pricing to match the competition. The low-price automatic on Kaufland.de helps you to remain flexible while still achieving the minimum price you have set for your items. You can find out more about how it works in our Seller University.
- Check your inventory and make sure that all your offers are in stock. You may need to increase the update frequency for your offers on Kaufland.de to protect against overselling.
- Pay attention to your delivery time details: Be sure to indicate the total delivery time, from when the order is placed to its arrival with the customer. Be realistic about this and state a delivery time that customers can actually expect. This gives customers full transparency regarding the arrival of items, contributing to a positive customer experience. The delivery time can be a decisive factor in the decision to purchase, even if you do not necessarily offer the cheapest price.
6. Increase customer satisfaction by responding to customer tickets in a timely manner – within 48 hours. Customers expect a fast online response, as well as speedy ordering and after-sales processes. If the customer sees that their requests are responded to quickly and, ideally, the problem is solved in a timely manner, this leads to a positive user experience and increases the repurchase rate.
7. Increase the visibility of your items on category, search results and product detail pages with Sponsored Product Ads. Costs are only incurred when an item is clicked on, which guarantees you full cost control. If you would like to learn more, please visit our Seller Info Area.
To help you get the most out of the Christmas shopping season, we have compiled a detailed guide with screenshots in our seven-step check list, showing you where to find the relevant settings in the Seller Portal.
Don’t delay! Make adjustments to your items and, if necessary, your product range, and much more besides. This year, consumers are making their Christmas purchases earlier because they expect prices and costs to rise at the end of the year.
Sales don’t stop after Christmas – get prepared for 2023 now
One of the easiest ways to grow is to sell internationally with Kaufland. With the all-in-one Kaufland Global Marketplace solution, you can sell on multiple country marketplaces at the same time with just one registration and gain international customers with minimal effort. There is no need for a long-term strategy. You can start selling directly after the launch of the new country marketplaces on Kaufland.sk and Kaufland.cz in 2023. Kaufland Global Marketplace makes growth easier right from the start:
| Payment in local currency is handled by Kaufland. Kaufland also handles marketing outside the platform in popular price comparison portals in the respective countries. Upon request, Kaufland will also translate your product data free of charge. |
How can I activate and prepare the new marketplaces?
As a seller on Kaufland.de, you can add the new marketplaces directly in your Seller Portal and make the initial settings.
In our Seller University, we take you step by step through the onboarding process for the new country marketplaces and show you which settings you can already make.
Do you have questions about international sales with Kaufland Global Marketplace? Our Seller Support team are happy to help!