According to industry group HDE, German retailers should be able to raise nominal revenues by 3% on average in 2022, but price-adjusted sales would likely stall owing to rising inflation.

The impetus will come mostly from online shopping's predicted growth of 13.5 percent this year, compared to 1.2 percent for traditional retail, HDE said in a statement, adding that major retail chains would likely benefit better than smaller businesses.

"Total sales will grow, but some of the players are clear losers," HDE Chief Executive Stefan Genth said, referring to small companies and shops in city centers. In Germany, unvaccinated persons are not permitted to visit non-essential retail stores.

"This measure, which is useless in the fight against the pandemic, must finally be dropped nationwide," Genth argued.