Dutch ecommerce worth €33.3 billion in 2022

Last year, Dutch consumers spent 33.3 billion euros online. This is a 9 percent growth compared to 2021. The number of purchases actually decreased by 5 percent, but the average amount per purchase increased by 15 percent.

Back in 2021, the Dutch spent 30.6 billion euros in online stores. The number of online purchases then was 366 million. Last year, this amount dropped to 347 million. Just like in 2021, 97 percent of the population buys online.

Strong increase in purchases service sector

This is evident from the latest Thuiswinkel Market Monitor from Dutch ecommerce association Thuiswinkel.org. The amount of online purchases and spending on services increased in 2022 (49 and 54 percent respectively), while it decreased for products (a decrease of 10 and 7 percent respectively).

Online purchases of services increased 49% in 2022.

“The increase in the services sector is mainly caused by many purchases of tickets for attractions and events and travel-related purchases. Dutch consumers also purchased insurance online more often in 2022 than in 2021, and at a higher price”, said Marlene ten Ham, director at Thuiswinkel.org.

Decline in online product purchases

Over the entire year, there was a decline in online purchases and spending on products. “The shrinkage for products applies to all categories except food/near food (up 3 percent from 2021). Due to an increase in the number of households buying online and the amount spent per online purchase, this category continues to grow steadily. Online grocery shopping remains popular in the Netherlands, and this is reflected in online purchases and spending for this category.”

In 2022, 12% of all purchases were completed online.

The report also shows that last year 12 percent of all purchases were completed online. This is a slight decrease from a year earlier (when the share was 13 percent). By contrast, the online share of total spending increased from 31 to 32 percent. According to the report, this can be explained by the growth of spending on services. Dutch consumers are spending more on services purchased online.

Cross-border spending increased 20%

In line with the other findings in the report, the amount of cross-border purchases decreased by 5 percent compared to 2021. However, the total spending on these purchases increased by 20 percent. This is mainly caused by the growth in spending in Package Travel (up 164 percent) and Flight tickets and Accommodations (up 74 percent), which were mainly purchased in the United States, Austria, Great Britain and Germany.

Increase in smartphone purchases

Last year, the amount of online purchases made using a smartphone increased from 29 to 33 percent. “If we look at the growth of smartphone use over the past five years, we see a clearer picture: in 2017, only 13 percent of online purchases were made with the smartphone. Five years later, smartphone use has thus increased two and a half times.”

As in 2021, 70 percent of online purchases last year were paid for with iDeal. As many as 96 percent of online shoppers used this payment method at least once in the past year. The number of consumers using credit cards rose from 28 percent to 31 percent. At the same time, Riverty actually shows a decrease in number of users (from 23 to 19 percent).