Germany's supermarket conglomerates invested millions in efforts to build up online grocery shopping and delivery programs. But even after months and months of throwing handfuls of cash into online storefronts, customers have failed to materialize according to a report released on Tuesday by the German Retailers Association (HDE). Be it beer or bratwurst, only 0.5 percent of all German grocery sales are done over the Internet.

"Retailers had big dreams," HDE spokesman Olaf Roik told the news agency DPA. "But many major companies no longer see it as an essential market."