Retail marketplace Amazon launched its German site in 1998, at the same time as launching in the UK, its first sites outside of the US.
Its German website follows the standard format expected from the company localised for the German market. This includes payment by monthly e-invoice, adding SEPA direct debit to an Amazon wallet for paying directly from a bank account and credit and debit cards. iDEAL (linking to Dutch bank accounts), Przelewy24 (for Polish accounts) and Bancontact (linking to Belgian accounts) are also offered as payment methods.
Amazon is busy expanding its logistics operations in Germany with the regional distribution centre in Giengen an der Brenz in Baden-Württemberg the latest warehouse from which the company fulfils customer orders.
In total, Amazon operates from more than 80 locations in Germany including corporate offices in Berlin and Munich, research & development centres in Berlin, Aachen and Tübingen, regional distribution centres, logistics centres, customer service centres and AWS data centres.
Each of its R&D facilities specialises in different technologies. The Berlin office was the first R&D facility set up by Amazon in Germany in 2013. The newest facility, in Tübingen, focuses on technologies for computer vision and causality.
A further three facilities, in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, are used for Amazon Fresh. The grocery service was launched in Germany in May 2017 and expanded to Hamburg in July 2021 allowing consumers in the city to order groceries for delivery the same day.
Amazon employs more than 23,000 people in Germany and is recruiting a further 5,000 this year. “We are looking for employees: inside the picking and shipping of goods, finance or research into future technologies,” says the company.
This case study was originally published in the Germany Top100 report. Download here to find out more about digital ecommerce companies leading the way in Germany – and more importantly, which strategies have kept them ahead of competitors.
