Number of office and stationery retailers in Germany 2002-2020

The number of businesses in German office supply and stationery retail has been declining year after year, as can be clearly seen in this graph. While in 2002 there were close to 8,000 businesses, in 2020 numbers had dropped to less than 4,000.

On paper

Office supply and stationery retail developments are being influenced by a number of factors, the leading one being perhaps the widespread and successful rise of e-commerce and as a consequence the growing global popularity of online shopping among consumers. True, online sales of office and stationery products in Germany still only make up a small share of the total and may need some time to grow. These goods are easy to buy physically and are also available not just in specialized shops, but in supermarkets and drugstores, to name just a few examples. German consumer spending on store-bought stationery has not increased significantly, compared to other European countries.

Amazon in the lead

The most popular online store in the hobby and stationery segment in Germany was by far Amazon. Trends therefore point towards stationery purchasing not exclusively in shops focusing on specifically those products, whether online or offline, but from larger retailers selling a wide variety of products.