ONLINE SHOPPING IN NETHERLANDS | ExpatINFO Holland (2024)

Online shopping in Netherlands is safe and done by millions of Dutch consumers. Find more information below including the most popular product categories purchased online, the 10 biggest webshops, language barrier for expats and purchasing from a webshop outside the EU…

ONLINE SHOPPING IN NETHERLANDS

According to CBS, the Dutch national statistics bureau, 52% of online shoppers in Netherlands have purchased clothing, footwear or fashion accessories, making it the most popular category of physical goods bought online. Other big physical goods categories include restaurant food delivery (43%), cosmetics (27%), sporting goods (26%), furniture (25%) and groceries (24%).

46% of online shoppers purchased movies or series from streaming services, 39% purchased internet/mobile service subscriptions, 37% purchased music via a streamer or as digital download and 34% purchased event, show or cinema tickets.

Online sales have grown significantly in the Netherlands over the past two decades. In 2020, total online sales had reached nearly €32 billion. Of this amount, purchases from foreign webshops (within the EU) hit a record of €2.6 billion. German webshops accounted for 50%, followed by the UK (12%), Belgium (8%) and Italy (8%).

Online sales peaked in 2021, fueled by the continuing coronavirus pandemic that had started in early 2020. Only in 2022 did the bump in online sales from the pandemic begin to taper off. As a result, total online sales in 2022 were down 2% on 2021.

Most Dutch webshops display a trustmark logo which communicates to shoppers that the site provides specific protections and guarantees. These typically include an automatic 14-day reflection period, seller’s terms and conditions are clear and easily to find on site, ordering process follows a logical order and includes a review step before order is finalized, and the customer’s data will be handled securely.

Popular trustmarks include those by Thuiswinkel, Trusted Shops and Webshop Keurmark. Read more about Dutch webshop trustmarks.

WEBSHOP LANGUAGE

The most common problem for expats in Netherlands making an online purchase from a Dutch webshop is language. Very few online shops in Holland offer an English-language option. Expats will typically add a translator extension to their browser to get around this issue. The problem resurfaces during checkout however as translators won’t work on secure encrypted pages.

10 BIGGEST WEBSHOPS IN NETHERLANDS

The 10 biggest online shops in Netherlands in 2022 were:

#1 bol.com – sales €4.020B
This Dutch e-tailer was an online department store but a few years back transitioned into an online marketplace with third-party retailers also selling items. The product range is huge and includes everything from perfume, toys and furniture to sporting goods, tools and appliances. Bol.com is owned by Ahold Delhaize (which also owns Albert Heijn supermarkets, Etos drugstores and Gall&Gall liquor stores. 2022 sales were €4.020 billion, down from €4.100 billion in 2021.

#2 ALBERT HEIJN ONLINE – sales €1.700B
Online shopping for groceries has grown significantly in the Netherlands over the past several years (especially during the 2020-2021 Covid-19 pandemic). AH Online continues to reap the benefit and saw its sales in 2022 increase to €1.700 billion (from €1.600 billion a year earlier), keeping it in second place.

#3 COOLBLUE – sales €1.547B
Coolblue is a Dutch online electronics and appliances shop known for its high level of customer service. Over the past few years they have added brick-and-mortar showrooms across the Netherlands including in Amsterdam, Arnhem, Eindhoven, Groningen, Haarlem, The Hague, Rotterdam, Tilburg and Utrecht. The Coolblue webshop has an English-language option. Their 2022 sales were up slightly on 2021.

#4 ZALANDO – sales €915.0M
The Dutch webshop of this German internet fashion retailer continues to be one of the biggest in the Netherlands. Zalando recently finished construction on its first distribution center in the country, a 140,000m² facility near Rotterdam. The company sells clothing, shoes and accessories for men, women and children. 2022 sales were flat to 2021 at €915 million, which was enough to move it up to 4th place.

#5 AMAZON – sales €900.0M
The world’s largest e-tailer does not have the largest webshop in Holland. It has grown significantly since its Netherlands webshop (Amazon.nl) began offering a fuller assortment and allowed third-party retailers to sell items also. Dutch consumers are offered Amazon Prime memberships at just €2.99/month which includes unlimited free shipping, access to Amazon Prime Video plus more benefits. 2022 sales were around €900 million which is down from €1 billion in 2021. They drop from 4th place to 5th place.

#6 JUMBO – sales €670.0M
Jumbo is the second largest Dutch supermarket chain and it has the second biggest food webshop as well. Jumbo online sales went up to €670.0 million in 2022 from €650.0 million in 2021, moving it up a notch from #6 to #5.

#7 WEHKAMP – sales €663.0M
Wehkamp is an online department selling apparel, footwear, jewelry/watches, cosmetics/perfume, electronics/appliances, furniture/bedding, sporting goods and toys/games. It was founded as a catalog business in the 1950’s and made the transition to online retailer in the mid 1990’s. Wehkamp was ranked as high as #2 a few years back but has been slipping recently. In 2022 sales fell to €663 million from €782 million in 2021, dropping it from #6 to #7.

#8 PICNIC – sales €610.0M
The Dutch mobile-only supermarket Picnic first appeared in the Top 10 in 2020 and maintains its rank as the 8th largest webshop in the Netherlands. Sales increased to €610.0 million from €550.0 million in 2021. People in Holland took notice of Picnic soon after the service launched due to their small odd-looking electric delivery vans.

#9 APPLE – sales €480.0M
Apple’s online sales in Netherlands have grown significantly in recent years. Their 2022 Dutch webshop sales totaled €480 million which was down just slightly from €490.0 million in 2021. They maintain their rank as the 9th biggest webshop in Netherlands.

#10 IKEA – sales €420.0M
Ikea’s online sales in Netherlands grew to €470.0 million in 2021 on the heels of the coronavirus, placing it in the Top 10 for the first time. But with consumers spending less time at home and investing less in redecorating after the pandemic, Ikea 2022 sales dropped to €420.0 million, which was still enough to keep it in 10th place.

NOTE: Figures based on the Twinkle100 report.

BEST WEBSHOPS IN NETHERLANDS

Every year the ABN AMRO Webshop Awards are given out the best Netherlands online shops by category. The winners are chosen by the public and a sizeable amount of Dutch shoppers (over 150,000 on average) take part in the vote each year.

For 2023-2024, the following were named best webshops in Netherlands…

BUYING FROM A NON-EU WEBSHOP

Shoppers in Netherlands can buy from a webshop based outside the European Union as long as the retailer ships to Holland AND the order does not contain any items banned from private import (such as prescription medicines, cigarettes or counterfeit merchandise).

There are fees charged to all shipments entering the Netherlands from outside the EU. Sales tax (VAT) is the most common as it applies to almost all shipments. VAT is assessed based on the total value of the shipment.

Total value = merchandise cost + shipping cost + insurance cost

Example: Item cost = €75, shipping cost = €10, insurance cost = €3. Total cost = €88. The sales tax (VAT) that will be charged by customs (which needs to be paid before the courier will give you the package) is 21% x €88 = €18.48.

Shipments with a total value greater than €150 are also subject to import duty fees. These fees vary in amount depending on the product category but are generally between 0-17%. If the shipment is subject to import duties (because it is over €150), the import duty is calculated first and then added to the value of the shipment before VAT is calculated.

Import Duty = Total value (merchandise cost + shipping cost + insurance cost) x import duty rate

VAT = Total value (merchandise cost + shipping cost + insurance cost + import duty) x VAT rate

Total additional fees to be paid = import duty + VAT

Find more information about calculating import fees here.

Buyers should be aware that products purchased from webshops outside the European Union frequently do not meet EU safety standards. The same is true of product guarantees and other consumer protections which are standard in the EU.

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