Breaking Records
Dutch consumers are spending record amounts online. The latest research publication by Thuiswinkel.org* shows consumers purchased 22.5 billion EUR worth in products and services online in 2017. This is a growth of +13% versus 2016.
The top performing segments in 2017 have been Health & Beauty, Food/Nearfood and Home & Garden. They have surpassed the performance of the Insurances and IT segments that were found in the top ranks back in 2016.
Top segments 2017 – sales growth vs 2016
Consistent growth month by month
The successful sales performance of 2017 does not come as a real surprise. Reports published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) have shown that growth rates for online sales have been between 10% and 20% month after month for the last year.
Online sales growth – vs same month prior year
Great consumer penetration
The Netherlands is known for access to internet and online marketplaces. This also shows in the consumer base penetration. Last year 95% of all consumers (15 years and older) performed at least one sales transaction online. With over 200 million transactions in 2017, this means the share of online sales across the total retail market has doubled over the last 5 years and keeps on growing.
Rivalry amongst retailers
Dutch consumers tend to turn to 5 key retailers for their online purchases. Based on 2016 online retail sales numbers, these include Bol.com, Coolblue, Wehkamp, Zalando and Amazon.
Top Online Retailers – 2016 sales in million EUR
Source: TwinkleNot all retail platforms have published their separate 2017 performance for the Dutch market at this point. The earnings reports by Bol.com (2017: 1.6 billion EUR) and Coolblue (2017: 1.2 billion EUR) however suggest they have been able to significantly improve their sales and are able to reinforce their position in this ranking.
