15.9% of Dutch households shopped their groceries online

During the last two years, 15.9 percent of the households in the Netherlands have bought their groceries online at least once. Almost half of these households bought their foods and drinks online more than once. This segment accounted for 80 percent of the total online revenue generated by supermarkets.

Market research company GfK published these numbers on its own website today. It calculated that the total revenue of supermarkets in the Netherlands reached 17.26 billion euros during the first half year of 2016. That’s an increase of 2.5 percent compared with the same period last year.

In the Netherlands it’s especially households with children and a high income and youngsters who spend more than average on online grocery shopping. Almost half (49%) of the supermarket’s online revenue come from these shopper segments. But when we look at the offline revenue of supermarkets these consumer groups only account for 37 percent of total revenue. GfK also found that older people spend relatively less money at supermarkets online.

‘In 10 years, online supermarket industry will increase tenfold’

Dutch ecommerce magazine Twinkle explains that a high store density, extended opening hours and big assortments are some of the main reasons why the Dutch still shop relatively little online for their groceries. But this is about to change, at least that’s what the bank ABN Amro predicts. “Aside from these constraints, we see much growth potential for ordering groceries online”, retail sector economist Sonny Duijn said earlier this year. He predicts the online supermarket industry will grow tenfold in the upcoming ten years.