German Internet success stories are rare. In many areas of the Internet, American companies dominate. In contrast, about 80 % of the providers of digital comparison tools relevant in Germany have their headquarters in Germany. In 2016, they employed a total of around 6,500 people here and generated revenues of EUR 3.4 billion. The figures for 2017 show substantial growth of DCTs in Germany. In 2017, they employ around 7,700 people. Their revenues have increased by approximately half a billion Euros to EUR 3.9 billion in total.
Digital comparison tools play an important role in the market. They create transparency and intense competition. From 2007 to 2015, the number of changes (not related to relocations) tripled in the electricity market and nine-folded in the gas market - digital comparison tools making switching providers significantly easier for consumers have likely played a role in this development. Almost twice as many users (58%) as non-users (31%) of digital comparison tools regularly check their existing contracts for ideal conditions. This saves them on average several hundred euros in their household budget.
As the results of the study show, 87% of users know that digital comparison tools are financed by commissions and/or advertising. Practically no one (3% of users, 1% of non-users) believes that digital comparison tools operate on a non-profit basis. Around 80% of users filter and sort the ranked results themselves and typically use more than one comparison tool to obtain information. 72% of users who have entered into a contract directly via a digital comparison tool state that the site introduced them to suitable offers from providers they did not know before. So, the best product and not the brand wins the consumer on digital comparison tools.
The study was carried out on behalf of CHECK24 and with the support of Dr. Anna Schneider.
