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Digital 100

The Official 100 Fastest-Growing Companies Online in Germany

The highly-anticipated annual rankings are live - discover the winning digital players of 2022! The globally recognized Digital 100 reveals the fastest-growing companies online in Germany across 10 key industries based on year-over-year (YoY) traffic growth. Plus, we unpack the digital tactics fueling their success so you can make the list next year.

Consumers hunt for bargains

Shopcider.com, a women's clothing retailer with low prices, is ranked second on our list of the fastest-growing apparel sites in Germany. Shop Cider experienced a 274% year-over-year (YoY) growth in traffic in 2022, taking advantage of the cost of living crisis. German apparel shoppers were not only searching for deals in women's clothing but also for other apparel segments, such as childrenswear (sinsay.com, +145%) and all categories on sellpy.de (+114%), which is a marketplace for buying and selling second-hand clothes and accessories.

Used car parts are now a thing

In 2022, the German automotive industry was focused on second-hand, used cars. Consumers acquired not only pre-owned and damaged automobiles from sites such as copart.com (+64.2%) and aldcarmarket.com (+23.5%), but also bought used actively searched for and purchased auto parts from sites like b-parts.com (+50.3%).

Skincare brands on the top

On our list of the fastest-growing beauty websites, my-origines.com, cultbeauty.com, dm.at, and purish.com have seen YoY traffic growth of 110%, 35%, 35%, and 23%, respectively. In terms of organic search, the most sought-after skincare brands on these sites were Acnemy, Transparent Lab, Geek and Gorgeous, and Glow Recipe.

Consumers shift to alternative energy sources

Victronenergy.com, a website that offers Inverter/chargers, batteries, and solar panels, was the fastest-growing electronics website of 2022, having seen a 276% increase in year-over-year (YoY) traffic. Anker.com, which specializes in portable power stations and solar generators, also experienced a 27% YoY growth. This surge in demand, since the fall of 2022, is likely due to Germans looking to save money on their energy bills by investing in alternative energy sources, but also preparing for potentiel blackouts.

Competition in the German banking space heats up

The top 10 sites in the financial industry were mainly regional branches of traditional banking institutions, such as Hanseatic Bank (+58.4%) and Volksbank Raiffeisenbank (+43.4%), indicating a large portion of the market is dominated by classic institutions and there is a low presence of alternative banks or newcomers. However, in 2022, UK-based Barclay's (+242.4%) was the leader of the industry, having moved its services from barclaycard.de to barclays.de, following Brexit, and taking advantage of its new strategic partnership with Amazon.

Do-it-yourself home repair

The traffic of vevor.com, a global online store that sells equipment and tools for DIY projects, has grown 155% year-over-year (YoY), and scheppach.com, which provides tools for gardening and renovation works, has seen a 56% YoY traffic growth. This trend suggests that Germans are attempting to save on their home improvement expenses by doing their own home repairs instead of paying for professional services.

Ukrainian news outlets skyrocket

Of the top 10 domains, four are Ukrainian news sources: pravda.com.ua (540.2% increase), tsn.ua (337.9% increase), ukr.net (248.9% increase), and unian.net (239.4% increase). Since only two of these domains have German or English versions, it is reasonable to assume that the primary interest in these sites comes from Ukrainian and Russian immigrants and refugees residing in Germany. With the War in Ukraine being the main topic on these sites and liveuamap.com, which features a map of the conflict on its front page, also up 2,210%, it is apparent that there is a significant interest in the war in the media.

High demand for omnichannel payment solutions

A large number of domains in our ranking, including worldpay.com (+100.1%), sumup.com (+84.1%), qonto.com (+82.1%), and datatrans.ch (+72.4%), offer payment services to businesses. This trend reflects the ongoing digitalization of small businesses in Germany that has been sustained throughout the pandemic, such as the shift from cash to card payments that Sumup facilitates. Interestingly, companies are investing in their financial systems to meet the increasing demand for ecommerce services and to remain competitive post-pandemic.

Events, events, events!

The top 10 in the category are mostly ticket sales sites, which shows that the live events industry is recovering. The most popular events in 2022 were Little Simz's tour, Rammstein and Hans Zimmer concerts, and the Kpop Flex festival.

Trains dominate the German commute

Train travel is a popular option for German vacationers, with interrail.eu and international-bahn.de being the two most popular websites for booking trips. Interrail.eu saw a 304.3% year-on-year (YoY) increase in traffic, indicating that Germans are increasingly opting for train travel, both domestically and abroad: the 9 euros monthly unlimited travel plan, launched by the German government, seems to have enticed customers to opt for rail travel.

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About us

Similarweb unlocks the digital world. Similarweb Digital Data is the fastest, easiest way to discover what’s happening online and uncover the digital leaders in your industry. Whether you’re an established brand or recently launched, Similarweb provides consumer and market insights to beat the online competition, grow exponentially, and gain a digital edge.


Methodology

The Digital 100 is the official list of the fastest-growing companies online. To identify the winners, we analyzed websites with over 50,000 visitors for 10 categories, ranking the 100 websites with the largest year-over-year (YoY) increase in visitors on desktop and mobile web devices in Germany in 2022 vs. 2021.