Dutch consumers spent 26.6 billion on web shops in 2020, an increase of 7 percent compared to a year earlier. The total number of online purchases increased by 27 percent to 335 million.
This growth was mainly caused by the corona crisis and government measures, as e-commerce growth appeared to be leveling off in 2019.
Huge differences between products and services (both in online spending and in the number of online purchases) are also striking, according to the Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor, the study into online consumer spending in the Netherlands.
In 2020, online spending on products increased by 43 percent and the number of online purchases by 41 percent. This somewhat compensated for the major blows among other things, the travel and leisure sectors; Due to the corona restrictions, the service sector saw online spending decrease by 39 percent and the number of online purchases by 37 percent.
There was an unprecedented growth in online spending within Home & Living (+83 percent), DIY/Garden (+74%), Sports and Recreation (+62%), Food/Near Food (+58%) and IT (+ 56%). Within these categories, online penetration has sometimes doubled.
Not surprisingly, online spending on package holidays showed a drop of 72 percent compared to 2019 and individual airline tickets and accommodations a minus of 37 percent.
The share of iDEAL as a payment method for online purchases again showed a strong increase in 2020: from 60 to 69 percent of the number of online purchases. In the Food/Nearfood segment in particular, the iDEAL share increased sharply (+11 percentage points), mainly at the expense of debit card. Other payment methods, such as gift cards, have been used less often as a method of payment for online purchases.
iDEAL was also the most commonly used payment method for cross-border purchases, although the share, at 46 percent of the number of purchases, was lower here than in the domestic market. International payment methods such as credit cards (22%) and PayPal (16%) are used more cross-border than for purchases at Dutch web shops, like support socks or compression stockings from Stox Energy.
Shopping behavior sports and recreation
On average, the Dutch spent 60.39 euros per order in the sports, leisure and hobby category this year. This is apparent from an analysis of anonymized data from September 2014 to September 2015 from payment solution company Klarna. The company has mapped out the shopping behavior of the growing group of consumers who increasingly order sports and leisure items online.
Men spend the most
It is striking that men spend on average about 6 euros more per order in this category, about 10 percent of the average spending amount per order. Yet nearly 75 percent of all sports and leisure items purchased online are purchased by women. Young people up to the age of 26 spend the least per order with an average of 50.30 euros.
Young people spend the least
On average, 36-45 year-olds and 46-55 year-olds spend the most per online order, with EUR 64.64 and EUR 65.99 per order respectively. Monday and Wednesday are the most popular days for purchasing these items online. Throughout the year, people ie-commerce-in-netherlandsn the 26-35 and 36-45 age groups most often buy sports and leisure items online.
Also read: How mobile payment is changing the game in the world of ecommerce
