Per-Merchant Refund Rates in German E-Commerce — 2025
Results as of
Review Full Year 2025: ABOUT YOU leads German merchants with a 22% refund rate; Amazon sits below 0.3%
Info
- Sample size
- n = 11,769
- Data date
- Full Year 2025
- Segment
- All segments
- Platform
- Market
- Germany
Analysis
ABOUT YOU's 22% refund rate heads the 2025 German merchant ranking, clustered with ASOS (13%), H&M (13%), TikTok Shop (16%), Temu (14%), and Zalando (10%) at the top — a group united by fashion-heavy assortments and explicitly returns-friendly positioning. Germany's fashion e-commerce sector is projected to reach nearly €33 billion by 2029, and generous return policies remain a core acquisition tool: 85% of German online shoppers say a clear, free return policy is critical to their purchase decision. At the opposite end, Amazon (0.2%), AliExpress (0.3%), and eBay (0.4%) record near-zero rates, reflecting the platform mechanics of large marketplaces where refunds are often handled outside standard email confirmation flows, making them harder to detect. Temu's 14% rate is notable given that Stiftung Warentest rated its return experience 'very good' in March 2025 — the highest score among seven tested platforms — suggesting the volume is enabled by a frictionless process rather than product failure. For marketplace strategists, this spread confirms that return-rate benchmarks must be read alongside platform architecture, not just product category.
This analysis is based on public segment data. For deeper cuts, use our Enterprise interface.
Methodology
Refund rate is calculated per merchant as the share of orders with at least one item flagged as a refund, return, or cancellation, divided by that merchant's total tracked orders in 2025. Only merchants with at least 30 tracked orders and at least 5 refunded orders are included. Merchants are ranked from highest to lowest refund rate. Amazon and Apple's rates are likely understated because their post-purchase refund notifications are less consistently matched to original order records than those of fashion-native platforms — the gap to fashion is real, but the precise floor for these platforms may be higher than shown.