Press release
September 17, 2015
Cornelia Lichtner
Public relations
T +49 7251 9295 270
F +49 7251 9295 290
cornelia.lichtner@gfk.com
Germans devote three-fourths of retail purchasing power to five product groups
GfK study on German’s 2015 product line purchasing
power
Bruchsal, Germany, September 17, 2015 – Germans spend 40
percent of their retail purchasing power on food, beverages and
tobacco products. Approximately eight to eleven percent is
spent on home improvement items; furniture and furnishings;
health and hygiene products; and clothing. But the distribution
of this purchasing power varies substantially by region, according to GfK.
Germans have an average 2015 retail purchasing power of €5,692
per person. Purchasing power measures the average available purchasing potential at consumers' places of residence. This indicator
encompasses product line-specific potential for both stationary and
online retail.
The new 2015 GfK study on product-specific purchasing power includes 17 product groups and around 60 products. The top five product groups draw more than 75 percent of the population's retail purchasing power. The other 12 product groups are responsible for the
remaining 25 percent:
GfK GeoMarketing GmbH
www.gfk-geomarketing.com
geomarketing@gfk.com
Bruchsal branch:
Werner-von-Siemens-Str. 9
Gebäude 6508
76646 Bruchsal; Germany
T +49 7251 9295 100
F +49 7251 9295 290
Hamburg branch:
Herrengraben 3-5
20459 Hamburg
Nuremberg branch:
Nordwestring 101
90419 Nuremberg; Germany
Management board:
Friedrich Fleischmann
Hans-Peter Klotzbücher
Amtsgericht Mannheim
HRB 250872
Ust-ID: DE 143585033
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product line
2015 product-line purchasing power per inhabitant in €
share as a %
2,324
40.8
home improvement items
623
10.9
furniture and furnishings
458
8.0
health and hygiene products
452
7.9
clothing
446
7.8
books, stationery
241
4.2
188
3.3
180
3.2
information technology
116
2.0
toys, hobbies
113
2.0
photo, optics
113
2.0
shoes, leather goods
110
1.9
sporting goods, camping
108
1.9
household products
83
1.5
watches, jewelry
74
1.3
telecommunications
46
0.8
infant and children's items
16
0.3
food
electrical household appliances
consumer electronics,
electronic media
75.6%
source: GfK Purchasing Power for Retail Product Lines, Germany 2015
The GfK study shows that even purchasing power for basic needs
such as eating, drinking, health, clothing and housing is not evenly
distributed across the country.
Regional potential for home improvement products
With an average purchasing power potential of €623 per person,
home improvement items occupy a special place in German retail.
Almost eleven percent of Germans' retail purchasing power is spent
on typical home improvement items such as garden products, automobile accessories and pet supplies.
The nation's leader in this regard is the rural district of Starnberg in
Bavaria, whose inhabitants have a per-capita purchasing power of
€813 for home improvement items. At the other end of the rankings is
the urban district of Gelsenkirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia, whose
inhabitants have just €436 per person for this product group. The
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range extends from 30 percent above the national average in
Starnberg to 30 percent below in Gelsenkirchen. Inhabitants of the
rural district of Lörrach in Baden-Wuerttemberg occupy the middle of
the spectrum.
Hesse embraces meat and wine
The purchasing power data reveals some peculiarities in consumers'
preferences across Germany's various federal states.
Hesse has the nation's highest purchasing power for meat: At €157
per person, inhabitants of Hesse have around six percent more purchasing power for this product than the national average. Despite the
famous “Frankfurter” sausages from Hesse, this federal state has a
purchasing power for sausage that is only around 2.4 percent higher
than the national average. Inhabitants of Bavaria are far more enthusiastic sausage eaters, with 11.2 percent more purchasing power for
this product line than the rest of the country.
But Hesse is the undisputable leader in wine-related purchasing
power. With €115 per person, inhabitants of Hesse have 25 percent
more purchasing power for wine than the average German.
About the study
The study "GfK Purchasing Power for Retail Product Lines 2015" is
calculated on the basis of various surveys and analyses of retailrelated consumer behavior. The study also takes into account data
from the GfK consumer panel, which anonymizes the expenditures of
a representative sample of approximately 30,000 German households. On the basis of this consumer information, GfK's Geomarketing solution area uses socio-demographic comparisons and geostatistical modeling to calculate regional, product-specific purchasing
power for around 60 products. GfK can also calculate retailer-specific
regional sales potential for more than 200 product groups.
GfK's data provides comprehensive coverage of all of Germany's
administrative and postal levels, from the country's federal states and
municipalities to five-digit postcodes and street segments. GfK also
offers product line-specific purchasing power for other European
countries.
Purchasing power is provided in the form of forecasted nominal values, meaning that they have not been adjusted for inflation. These
values are based on consumers' places of residence rather than on
points of sale. The data comprises average values for all inhabitants
of a given region. These figures therefore cannot be used to draw
conclusions regarding the financial wealth of individuals.
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Additional information
on GfK's regional market data can be found at
www.gfk.com/marketdata.
Print-quality illustrations
can be found at http://www.gfk.com/Documents/PressReleases/2015/product-lines.zip
About GfK
GfK is the trusted source of relevant market and consumer information that enables its clients to make smarter decisions. More than
13,000 market research experts combine their passion with GfK’s
long-standing data science experience. This allows GfK to deliver
vital global insights matched with local market intelligence from more
than 100 countries. By using innovative technologies and data sciences, GfK turns big data into smart data, enabling its clients to improve their competitive edge and enrich consumers' experiences and
choices.
Additional information can be found at www.gfk.com.
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Responsible under press legislation / V.i.S.d.P.
GfK GeoMarketing GmbH
Public Relations
Cornelia Lichtner
Werner-von-Siemens-Str. 9
Gebäude 6508
76646 Bruchsal; Germany
T+49 7251 9295 270
cornelia.lichtner@gfk.com
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