More and more Dutch people shop online

Nearly 10 million people in the Netherlands regularly shop online. They are buying more and more clothes online, especially women. Most online shoppers buy only new products.

Eight in ten internet users shop online

The Dutch population included 12.3 million internet users in 2012. Eighty percent of them – 9.8. million people - had purchased a product online at some point in time.  Seven years previously this was only 5.9 million. The number of online shoppers has increased continually in recent years.
Dutch online shoppers are also buying products more often. The number of frequent online shoppers rose from 3.9 million in 2005 to 7.1 million in 2012.

12-75-year-old internet users shopping online

Women more likely to buy clothes

Travel tickets, holidays and accommodation again accounted for the largest category of online purchases in 2012, closely followed by clothes and sports items. Over half of frequent online shoppers bought clothes and sports items online in 2012, significantly more women than men. Men were more likely to buy software, hardware and other electronics.

Online purchases by frequent online shoppers, 2012

New products up to 500 euros

Nearly 70 percent of frequent online shoppers bought only new goods via the internet in 2012. Just over a quarter bought both new and used products, and 4 percent purchased only used items. Four in ten shoppers spent between 100 and 500 euros on new items, the same share spent less than 100 euros. Although shoppers spend less on used products, one third spent at least 100 euros on this category.

Spending on online purchases, 2012

Ger Sleijpen and Elma Wobma