The DACH ecommerce market is forecast to expand at a steady annual rate of three to six percent, driven by resilient consumer demand in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. While domestic spending remains the bedrock of this growth, the most significant structural shift is the accelerating penetration of Asian marketplaces, which are capturing an increasingly large share of cross-border transactions across the region.
Online spending in Austria is projected to reach a record 12.3 billion euros in 2026, a three percent increase over the previous year. The number of online shoppers is expected to hold steady at 5.8 million, with the growth in total expenditure being driven by a rise in average spending per shopper. Rainer Will, managing director of the Austrian Retail Association, notes that the market has reached a state of maturity. The central challenge for domestic retailers, he argues, is to retain this volume within the country through competitive offers, reliable service, and fair conditions.
Cross-border buying remains a pressing concern for the association. Approximately 47 percent of Austrian ecommerce spending—some 5.8 billion euros—flows to foreign retailers. This year, an estimated 1.3 billion euros is expected to be spent on Chinese platforms like Temu, Shein, and AliExpress, which now account for 10.6 percent of total online spending in the country. Despite this surge, Amazon continues to command a considerably larger share of the Austrian market than any single Asian competitor.
Austria’s Cross-Border Spending Share Exceeds 10 Percent
The data from Austria offers a clear point of reference for the broader regional trend. Asian marketplaces have grown from a negligible force to a double-digit component of the country’s ecommerce ecosystem. The 10.6 percent share of total spending captured by Temu, Shein, and AliExpress represents a significant shift in consumer behavior, particularly among price-sensitive segments. The Austrian Retail Association views this trend with caution, as it represents a direct leakage of economic activity that could otherwise support local logistics, fulfillment, and retail employment.
The maturity of the Austrian market means that future growth will likely be incremental rather than explosive. The focus for domestic players is increasingly on customer retention and service differentiation rather than on capturing entirely new cohorts of shoppers. The stable number of online shoppers—5.8 million—underscores this reality.
Swiss Ecommerce Posts Six Percent Growth as Cross-Border Gains Slow
Switzerland presents a slightly different picture. According to data from NielsenIQ, ecommerce sales in the country increased by six percent last year, reaching the equivalent of approximately 17.1 billion euros. Forecasts indicate continued expansion through 2026. Evgenij Isakulov of NielsenIQ observes that foreign retailers, particularly Chinese marketplaces, continue to gain market share in Swiss ecommerce. However, the pace of that cross-border growth has moderated noticeably compared to the previous year.
This moderation is a meaningful shift. It suggests that while Asian platforms remain highly competitive in terms of pricing, their rate of market penetration is encountering natural limits. Swiss consumers may be reaching a ceiling in their willingness to shift spending to foreign platforms, particularly as delivery times, return policies, and customer service considerations come into sharper focus. The slowing growth of cross-border ecommerce in Switzerland also indicates that domestic retailers may have some breathing room to defend their market positions.
Shein and Temu Now Account for Five Percent of German Ecommerce
Germany, the largest economy in the DACH region, is also feeling the impact of Asian marketplaces. According to the Online Monitor 2026 from the German Retail Federation, online spending grew by 3.9 percent last year to 92.3 billion euros, with a further increase of 4.3 percent expected this year. The federation describes ecommerce as the growth engine of German retail, underscoring the sector’s importance to the broader economy.
Shein and Temu together already account for around five percent of all ecommerce spending in Germany. The federation estimates that these platforms divert billions of euros from the German economy each year. This dynamic is particularly acute for smaller online retailers, which lack the scale to compete on price with the aggressive supply chains and marketing budgets of the Asian platforms. The structural challenge for German ecommerce is no longer just about domestic versus cross-border logistics; it is about the fundamental cost advantage that platforms like Shein and Temu bring to the table.
How Much Are Shein and Temu Taking from the German Economy Each Year?
The German Retail Federation estimates that Shein and Temu divert billions of euros annually from the German economy. This figure represents not just lost sales for domestic retailers, but also the associated ripple effects on warehousing, fulfillment, customer service, and packaging industries. The five percent market share captured by these two platforms is a material figure in a market worth over 92 billion euros, translating into billions of euros in direct spending that would otherwise flow to German-based merchants. The federation has been vocal about the need for regulatory frameworks that address the competitive disparity between domestic retailers bound by local regulations and foreign platforms that operate under different standards.
Why Smaller Online Retailers in the DACH Region Are Struggling
A recent study by ECDB and Mastercard on Central European ecommerce highlights a troubling divergence within the market. While overall ecommerce growth in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland remains healthy—and in some estimates, even higher than official forecasts—the bulk of that growth is being captured by the largest players. Smaller online retailers across the region are seeing their revenues decline as they lose ground to both domestic giants like Amazon and to the rising tide of Asian marketplaces.
This concentration of market power is a defining characteristic of the current phase of ecommerce development in the DACH region. The large players benefit from economies of scale in logistics, advertising, and data analytics that smaller competitors cannot match. For a small or medium-sized online store in Austria or Germany, the competitive landscape now includes not just Amazon, but also the hyper-efficient, ultra-low-cost model of platforms like Temu and Shein. The result is a market that is growing in aggregate but becoming less hospitable for the long tail of independent retailers.
Cross-Border Growth in Central Europe: Opportunity and Risk
The ECDB and Mastercard study estimates that ecommerce growth across Central Europe, including the DACH countries, is somewhat higher than the forecasts published by national industry organizations. This discrepancy suggests that the official figures may undercount cross-border transactions, particularly those flowing through platforms that are not fully captured by domestic retail surveys. The implication is that the market share of foreign players could be even larger than currently reported.
For consumers, the availability of low-cost goods from Asian marketplaces is a clear benefit, offering access to a vast range of products at prices that domestic retailers often cannot match. For the DACH economies, however, the trend presents a strategic challenge. The question for policymakers and industry leaders is whether the region can adapt its retail ecosystem to remain competitive without resorting to protectionist measures that might limit consumer choice. The next phase of development will likely involve a combination of regulatory adjustments, investment in local logistics efficiency, and a renewed focus on service quality and speed that foreign platforms may struggle to replicate.
