Amazon is currently hard to get past in Germany, both as a vendor and as a buyer. In a study conducted by the Center for Entrepreneurship of the University of St.Gallen, it was found that the online retailer Amazon already has surprisingly high market shares in important product groups.

The Amazon Watch Report

How strong is Amazon in the individual categories? How much turnover does it make there and how is it distributed? The data is not yet public. To change this, the analysis magazine digital kompakt, the loyalty provider PAYBACK, the Amazon expert factor-a, the University of St.Gallen and the management consultancy Etribes have launched the Amazon Watch Report.

Figures on the real Amazon dominance

For 2017, Amazon's external sales are estimated at up to 23 billion euros. Amazon thus accounts for almost 50 percent of German e-commerce sales. Almost half of Germans use Amazon as a search engine for products and prices, and 35% of all (German) Amazon customers are members of the Amazon Prime loyalty system, according to PwC. Amazon is clearly dominant in e-commerce.

The Amazon Watch Report is the first analysis of Amazon's real dominance in each of its categories that is underpinned by hard figures and quantifies this dominance on the basis of a concrete index number. The Center for Entrepreneurship of the University of St.Gallen developed the methodology for calculating the dominance index AMDI (Amazon Market Dominance Index) for each category.

Using data from factor-a and other market data, the Center for Entrepreneurship of the University of St.Gallen calculates Amazon sales per category and calculates the German market volume of these categories using figures from the Federal Statistical Office. By comparing the two figures, the market share of Amazon and the dominance per category can be illustrated. An exemplary market share of 9% results in dominance level 5, from 40% on a company is considered to be dominant (AMDI = 10).

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