In the first quarter of 2007, 25 million Germans ordered goods or services over the internet. Thus, according to the Federal Statistical Office, 52% of private internet users shop online which shows that the internet is becoming more and more important as a means of shopping to private consumers. The number of private internet users shopping online has constantly increased by in total 19 percent since the year 2002. more…

With 104.000 square meters of exhibition space and a record participation of 1212 exhibitors from 32 countries the IFA, which is the world´s largest consumer electronics trade show, will open its doors from August 31st to September 5th at the foot of the Berlin radio tower. According to the organizers, the trade fair, which this year for the second time take place once a year is set to continue its success story. more…

The latest figures on tourism published by the Federal Statistical Office fill the hotel and accomodation industry with optimism. Over the first half of 2007 there were 159.9 million overnight stays registered by hotels with nine or more beds and at camping sites. This figure reflects an increase by 3.4% as compared to the first six months of 2006. more…

In spite of reports of deficient products from China most Germans do not pay any attention to the country of origin of the goods purchased: in a recent survey conducted by Emnid on behalf of the N24 news channel 54% of Germans said that they did not intentionally avoid buying Chinese products. 40% of consumers, however, try to refrain from buying goods from China, which made negative headlines recently due to their negative effects on health and their poor quality. more…

German companies will significantly increase their investment in electronic business in 2007. More than one third of companies will investment more than in 2006 and almost 60% want to investment as much as last year. These findings were revealed by the “eBusiness-Barometer 2007/2008” survey which was presented yesterday in Berlin. This year companies invest particularly in customer management software, IT security solutions and internet portals. more…

According to provisional figures by the Federal Statistical Office consumer prices will probably increase by 1.9% in August 2007 as compared to August last year which is the same increase already withnesses in July. As compared to July 2007 prices slightly fell by 0.1% in August. more…

Financial market experts compiling the CEE economic indicator (Central and Eastern Europe) do not expect any changes with regard to the economic development in these regions over the next six months. The experts expect the economy to develop positively there. For Austria, however, future prospects are rather negative, even though the current economic situation there is seen in a positive light. more…

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the German retail trade (motor vehicles excluded) generated almost half of its turnover (45%) in just ten out of 59 product classes. Most turnover was generated in the field of pharmaceutical products (8.3% of total turnover), followed by ladies´ wear (5.9%) and foodstuffs (5.7%). more…

Given that just eight percent of all small companies have an in-house IT department, the majority of companies depend on external support even in the case of minor software problems or hardware deficiencies. The TechConsult market research company recently wanted to find out who is charged by small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) with solving such problems. The finding: 54% of SMEs count on permanent IT service partners when such a situation arises. more…

The market for digital photography is booming. Over the last year the percentage of German households possessing digital cameras increased from 49 to 52%. 43.4 million Germans above the age of ten, that is 58% of the entire German population, use digital cameras. On average, every German takes 55 photos per month and 7.3 million Germans even take more than 100 pictures each month. All in all the number of digital photos taken every month amounts to almost 2.4 billion. These figures are the findings of a representative study conducted on behalf of the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM). more…