The editorial team at Ecommerce Germany analyzes an ibi research study from the University of Regensburg showing that international expansion is now a standard operation for German businesses. The study, "Cross-Border E-Commerce – International Sales via Digital Channels," surveyed companies across trade, industry, and services between May and July 2026. The results indicate a significant shift in market participation. Currently, 84% of respondents actively sell internationally or accept foreign orders. This represents a sharp increase from 51% in 2022.
Rising friction meets this growth. Data shows that 59% of companies find cross-border expansion increasingly expensive and complex. While the barrier to entry has lowered, the operational burden of scaling across multiple jurisdictions creates a bottleneck for performance marketers and retailers.
Operational Demands Replace Market Entry Hurdles
The study highlights that challenges have shifted from market presence to managing region-specific operational demands. Performance marketing professionals face fragmented tracking requirements, diverse payment preferences, and localized tax regulations. According to the analysis, retailers increasingly use marketplaces to solve these logistical and technical hurdles.
Kaufland Global Marketplace provides a unified technical infrastructure for this transition. These platforms allow sellers to bypass the need for individual localized storefronts. For affiliate managers and brand owners, these systems centralize data and sales management across multiple European regions.
Marketplaces as Growth Drivers
The report notes that marketplaces like Kaufland attract up to 46 million monthly visitors. This high-intent traffic offers an alternative to rising customer acquisition costs on social media or search engines. German companies report success expanding into Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. New launches in the Netherlands in September 2026 and Spain will further extend this reach.
Success will not depend on the number of countries entered, but on who can actually manage the operational effort per market.
Marketplace-Centric Affiliate Models
The findings suggest the role of the publisher and affiliate manager is shifting toward a marketplace-centric model. As retailers consolidate international efforts onto major platforms, affiliate programs must adapt. Programs need to track and reward traffic directed to marketplace storefronts rather than standalone D2C sites. The reduction in operational effort mentioned in the study requires streamlined, multi-region attribution models to handle cross-border traffic volume.
The ibi research study concludes that while the international sales "leap into the unknown" is over, the new battleground is operational efficiency. Marketplaces are becoming the primary infrastructure for European cross-border trade rather than just an additional sales channel.
Source: Ecommerce Germany
This article was created with AI assistance and editorially reviewed.
