Ecommerce in the Netherlands: €22.5 billion in 2017

The ecommerce in the Netherlands was worth 22.5 billion euros in 2017. This is an increasement of 13 percent when compared to the situation one year before. The Dutch made a total of 201 million online purchases last year, which is 17 percent more than in 2016.

These are the main conclusions from the Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor, research conducted by Dutch ecommerce association Thuiswinkel.org. About 56 percent of the amount of money that was spent online last year, was meant for the purchase of products. The online share of product purchases continues to grow. At the moment, ecommerce in the Netherlands accounts for 9.7 percent of the total retail industry. That’s almost twice as much as it was five years ago.

Last year, it was mostly the product categories Health & Beauty, Food/Nearfood and Home & Garden that saw the biggest increase in spending:

A significant part of the 22.5 billion euros spent online by the Dutch, was spent during the last quarter of the year. That’s no surprise at all, as holidays such as the Saint Nicholas feast, Black Friday and Christmas take place during these months. About 6.9 billion euros was spent in the final quarter of the year, an increase of 11 percent compared to the same period one year before. And in comparison with other quarters, more money was spent, but on average the average purchase order was lower.

Smartphone more popular than tablet

Dutch consumers increasingly spend their money online by using a smartphone. For the first time ever, the smartphone is a more popular shopping device than the tablet. During the last quarter of 2016, 21 percent of online shoppers used a smartphone for at least one purchase, while this share was already 28 percent last year. At the same time, the share of purchases using a tablet decreased from 25 to 24 percent.