In 2020, 95 percent of the Dutch population went shopping online. The reasons for a mature e-commerce market in the Netherlands include its small geographical area that allows for very efficient logistics, a high level of consumer interest, and strong local market participants. In March 2020, Amazon entered the Netherlands with a wide range of products in many categories where previously only books were sold.

The Coronavirus lockdown in spring 2020 gave – as in so many other European countries – e-commerce a boost. 33 percent of respondents in our latest survey stated that they now shop online more often because of the pandemic, which means that more than four million Dutch consumers have increased their online spending.

In terms of marketplaces, local companies have until now dominated the Dutch e-commerce market. However, now that Amazon has increased its presence, consumer preferences could possibly change. The marketplace with the most visits is the classifieds site Markplaats.nl, which can be explained by the fact that as many as 38 percent of consumers in the country sell items online. Another popular domestic market participant is Bol.com, which sells goods in a wide variety of categories. Alibaba’s Aliexpress platform is also relatively popular and in the past year, 37 percent of Dutch consumers have made online purchases from China.

To learn more about the diverse European e-commerce market, order your free copy of the ”E-commerce in Europe 2020” report.

Olof Källgren, Market Information Manager, Direct Link