Dutch consumers spent €1.9 bn in EU webshops in 2019

Turnover generated by EU webshops represents the value of online purchases made by Dutch consumers from shops located within the European Union, but outside the Netherlands. Figures are exclusive of VAT and have been calculated on the basis of an experimental method. As this method is still under development, these are provisional figures.

Nearly 16 percent more turnover generated by Dutch webshops

In Q4 2019, webshops registered in the Netherlands saw their sales go up by 15.7 percent relative to the same quarter one year previously. Online sales for the entire year were up by 17 percent. A distinction can be made between online shops and the ‘multichannelers’: companies with online sales in addition to their brick-and-mortar shop(s). In Q4 2019, online shops saw their turnover grow by 14.3 percent relative to one year previously (14.1 percent annual growth in 2019). Dutch multichannelers realised 17.7 percent more turnover in this period (21.3 percent annual growth in 2019).

Turnover share of European webshops limited

Dutch consumer purchases from European webshops account for a relatively small part of total consumer spending. In 2019, such webshops accounted for less than 2 percent of total retail turnover generated in the Netherlands. This total retail turnover was 3.3 percent higher than in 2018.

The distinction between domestic and foreign webshops tends to be blurry to Dutch consumers. Consumer information on e-commerce websites is often available in multiple languages and foreign online stores may have a Dutch version.