The Netherlands

Earlier this year, H&M introduced a return fee of 0.99 euros for shoppers in various European countries, including the Netherlands. Starting from November 1, the rate will increase there by 1 euro, more than doubling the fee. H&M club members will no longer be exempt from this.

Bol holds a significant lead in the Twinkle100, the list of the largest online retailers in the Netherlands. The revenue of Bol, as the company is now simply called, is more than twice as high as that of the runner-up, which shares the same owner.

NextSmartShip, a thriving Chinese fulfillment company, has taken a significant step into the European market by establishing a key office in the Netherlands. This marks the company's inaugural presence in Europe, embodying the initial phase of their ambitious global strategy, with a planned expansion into the United States on the horizon.

Dutch sustainable parcel deliverer Homerr has been acquired by Vinted Go, the shipping arm of Vinted. The amount involved in the acquisition was not disclosed. For now, Homerr will continue to operate under its own trade name.

In the first half of this year, Dutch consumers spent 16.3 billion euros online. Compared to the same period in 2022, this is an increase of 2 percent. The online share of total spending was 31 percent, just like in 2022.

Dutch B2B payments provider Sprinque is announcing its launch in Germany and Spain with new offices in those countries. The company wants to eventually offer its payments platform to the complete European market.

This year, the turnover of online stores in the Netherlands is expected to grow 4 percent, compared to last year. In 2022, a decrease of 2 percent in turnover was measured, says Dutch bank ING. At the same time, for the first time in a decade, the amount of sales in retail is expected to decline 2 percent.

As of yesterday, Dutch fulfillment company Active Ants has been fully acquired by Belgian postal company Bpost. The acquisition was already announced in 2018, but at that time management remained in the hands of Active Ants. Now, the company has sold its remaining stake to Bpost.

HelloFresh Group has expanded its ready-to-eat brand, Factor, to the Netherlands and the Flanders region in Belgium. Other countries on the continent will follow suit. "Bringing Factor to Europe is a significant stride in HelloFresh's multi-tier brand strategy."

Ecommerce giant Amazon has opened its first fulfillment center in the Netherlands. With the new location, the online marketplace will be able to deliver Dutch orders faster. The launch is part of a collaboration with Dutch logistics company Bleckmann.

In 2022, Dutch online department store Wehkamp, made 433 million euros in turnover. This is a decrease of 9 percent compared to the year before. The company’s net loss came to 22 million euros.

Swedish Logent Group has signed an agreement for a majority stake in Misi. The acquisition of this Dutch fulfilment company is expected to be completed next month. It is unknown how much money Logent paid for the majority stake.

Amazon wants to open a distribution centre in the Netherlands of 100,000 square metres. The ecommerce giant has been operating there since 2015 and has a Dutch online store since 2020. Currently, it delivers most orders from a delivery centre at Schiphol Airport, while its products come from Germany.

Consumers in the Netherlands expect to spend 37 percent of their total expenditures online by 2028. This is five percentage points higher than the actual percentage in 2022. Still, the expectation has declined: last year, consumers expected to spend 41 percent of their expenditures online in five years.

Today, Sendcloud announced the acquisition of data platform Tracey. The acquisition allows Sendcloud to offer new data tools, such as AI-driven delivery predictions and near-real-time package monitoring. In this way, the shipping platform aims to offer the best customer experience.