Picnic and HelloFresh in top 10 Dutch ecommerce

The six biggest online stores in the Netherlands in 2020 were the same six as the year before. Bol.com remains the biggest player, followed by Coolblue and Albert Heijn. However, Albert Heijn is closing the gap between itself and its predecessor quickly. Garden centers and hardware stores grew the fastest, and meal delivery companies also climbed higher on the list.

As every year, Dutch magazine Twinkle has ranked the 250 biggest ecommerce stores in the Netherlands. The frontrunners remain undisputed, with Bol.com and Coolblue in place 1 and 2. Just like last year, Albert Heijn is the third largest player, but is well on its way to knocking Coolblue off the throne.

Albert Heijn closing in on Pieter Zwart

Pieter Zwart’s company has a lead on Albert Heijn with a difference in turnover of only 190 million euros. Last year, that gap was well over 400 million euros. Albert Heijn is therefore on its way to lead the top 10 alongside sister company Bol.com, followed by well-known Zalando and Wehkamp. Although Amazon has entered the market with a Dutch online store, it remains at number 6.

Online grocery delivery knocks fashion out of the top 10

What striking is that former top 10 members About You and H&M have left the field. They make way for two newcomers in the top 10: online supermarket Picnic (place 8) and meal delivery company HelloFresh (place 10). It was expected that Picnic would climb higher on the last, with a turnover this year of more than 400 million euros. Supermarkets have done well in the past corona year: Jumbo retains its place in the top 10.

Home, garden and food are doing extra well

The home and garden categories saw the largest growth last year, especially garden centers and hardware stores. Up to 70 home and garden stores made the list this year, while in past years there were more than 50 stores in the list. The food category also performs well. In addition to the new top 10 position of Picnic and HelloFresh, online supermarket crisp makes an entrance at number 38.

Corona causes explosive turnover growth

Together, the total of 250 online store account for a turnover of 20.9 billion euros, which is about 1200 euros per Dutch person. In 2019, online sales still amounted to 900 euros per inhabitant. This is an unprecedented growth of no less than 45 percent. Just as the catching up of food deliverers, this growth is probably a result of the lockdowns.

‘Turnover of Dutch online stores has doubled since 2017.’

If we go back further, the turnover of Dutch online stores has even doubled since 2017. The turnover growth is also reflected in the last year’s closing: it ends at 11 million euros, 3.5 million higher than in last year’s Twinkle100 edition.

Covid effect

Covid-19 has undeniably left its mark on this edition. “The influence of the corona pandemic on turnover figures cannot be underestimated”, says editor-in-chief Daniël Verheij. “It caused changes in our online buying behavior and that is clearly reflected in this list. For example, for the first time there are four food players in the top-10 of the Twinkle100. That is double compared to last year.”

Top 10 online stores in the Netherlands