Customer service and AI in German e-commerce: statistics 2026

As of 23 October 2026. Every figure with source and date; we update this page when new surveys are published.

The key points in three sentences

When something goes wrong, online shoppers mostly want to reach a person quickly (62%); only about a third want a chatbot (36%). At the same time, most German companies now use AI, most often in customer contact. The key is AI that answers simple questions reliably and hands everything else to a human fast.

What customers expect

• 62% of online shoppers would rather turn to a quickly reachable person when they have a problem. (Bitkom, 22 May 2025)
• 36% of online shoppers want help from a chatbot. (Bitkom, 22 May 2025)
• 86% are satisfied with human contact; 50% of chatbot users are satisfied with the chatbot. (Bitkom, 22 May 2025)
• Preferred channels: email 52%, callback 40%, FAQ 28%, video chat 7%. (Bitkom, 22 May 2025)
• 35% of consumers already use AI chatbots for product research. (HDE Online Monitor 2026, 3 June 2026)

Online retail and chatbots in Germany

• 12% of online retailers use chatbots, 30% are discussing or planning it. (Bitkom, 12 Jan 2024)
• 18% of the 50 largest German online shops use chatbots (9 of 50). (GISMA, 2023)
• German online retail grew 3.9% to €92.3bn (net) in 2025; HDE expects +4.3% nominal for 2026. (HDE Online Monitor 2026, 3 June 2026)

Returns

• 24.2% of B2C e-commerce parcels in Germany are returned; around 542m return parcels in 2025, an estimated 560m in 2026. (Returns Management Research Group, University of Bamberg, 30 Sep 2026)
• 53.3% of surveyed retailers put the handling cost of a return at up to €10 per item; 27% cannot quantify it. (EHI Retail Institute, 27 Nov 2025)

AI in German companies

• 57% of German companies with 20+ employees use AI (previous year 36%), most often in customer contact such as handling enquiries (72% of AI users). (Bitkom, 14 Sep 2026)
• The biggest obstacle for AI users is data protection requirements (66%). (Bitkom, 14 Sep 2026)
• 26% of all German companies with 10+ employees use AI (250+ employees: 57%). (Destatis, 24 Nov 2025)

Where good numbers are missing

There is no reliable, freely available German survey on the share of "where is my order?" requests or on the cost of a single support contact. The latest count of chatbots in German online shops dates from 2023. We deliberately left out figures from vendor blogs without a primary source.

Citing

You may use this compilation with a link to this page. Please cite each figure with its original source.