Ecommerce in the Netherlands: €26.6 billion in 2020

Ecommerce in the Netherlands was worth 26.6 billion euros in 2020. That’s a growth of 7 percent compared to the situation in 2019. Of course, the increase of online purchases by Dutch consumers has everything to do with the coronavirus outbreak.

Due to the lockdowns and the fear of contracting the coronavirus, many Dutch people shopped online much more last year. Together, they made 335 million online purchases, which represents a significant increase of 27 percent compared to the situation one year before.

27% more online purchases were made.

13.8 million online shoppers in the Netherlands

The data come from the annual Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor, an ecommerce study conducted by the national ecommerce association Thuiswinkel.org. They state several reasons why ecommerce has grown so much in the Netherlands. “The biggest cause is that more purchased were made per online buyer: there was an average of 19 online purchases in 2019, and now it’s already 24. In addition, the number of online buyers increased by 2 percent to 13.8 million.”

More product purchases, less services

Last year, online spending on products increased by 43 percent while the number of online purchases of products increased by 41 percent. These tangible purchases managed to somewhat offset the blow of the intangible online orders. Because in the same year, online spending on services decreased by 39 percent and the number of online purchases of services decreased by 37 percent.

Thuiswinkel.org saw ‘unprecedented growth’ in online spending, particularly in the Home & Living (+83 percent), DIY / Garden (+74 percent) and Sports & Recreation (+62 percent) product categories.

69% of purchases with iDeal

The significant increase in ecommerce in the Netherlands has also led to significant growth in the use of iDeal. This payment method was used for 69 percent of all online purchases last year, whereas the share was 60 percent a year earlier.

And iDeal was also the most used payment method for cross-border purchases. Here, the share of iDeal is 46 percent. It is therefore still more popular than, for example, credit card (22 percent) and PayPal (16 percent).

iDeal is also popular in foreign online shops.