eCommerce market in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is the 20th largest market for eCommerce with a predicted revenue of US$25,153.3 million by 2024, placing it ahead of Argentina. Revenue is expected to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2028) of 4.2%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$29,616.5 million by 2028. With an expected increase of 5.1% in 2024, the Dutch eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 10.4% in 2024. Like in the Netherlands, global eCommerce sales are expected to increase over the next years. Seven markets are considered by ECDB within the Dutch eCommerce market. Electronics is the largest market and accounts for 32.3% of the Dutch eCommerce revenue. It is followed by Grocery with 16.6%, Fashion with 15.7%, Hobby & Leisure with 11.7%, DIY with 8.8%, Furniture & Homeware with 8.1%, and Care Products with the remaining 6.7%.

The online share refers to the proportion of the retail volume that is transacted via the Internet. It includes purchases via desktop PC, tablet or smartphone, both via website or app. Only retail of physical goods is taken into account. In the Dutch retail market, the online share is 18.0% and will increase by an average of 8.0% to 24.4% by 2028.

The biggest player in the Dutch eCommerce market is bol.com. The store had a revenue of US$2,245.7 million in 2023. Store rankings include every store that generates revenue in the Netherlands. These stores can either have a national focus and only sell in their main country or operate on a global scale. For this evaluation, only revenue created in the Netherlands was considered.

The Dutch eCommerce market in 2023 in terms of offered payment methods is fragmented and dominated by a few providers with VISA (Cards) covering the largest share with 93.0% of all online stores checked. Other offered payment methods in the Dutch eCommerce market in 2023 are Mastercard (Cards) with 92.5%, iDEAL (Bank transfer) with 91.7%, and PayPal (E-wallets) with 78.3%. With 40.6% Bank transfer/cash in advance (Bank transfer) has already a significantly smaller coverage compared to VISA (Cards).

Despite PostNL's dominant position with 62.2% of online stores opting for its services, the Dutch eCommerce market in 2023 remains diverse and competitive. Several other shipping service providers, including DHL, DPD, UPS (United Parcel Service), and GLS, hold smaller but significant shares, contributing to a dynamic and fragmented market.