D. Tighe
Research expert covering consumer behavior, sporting goods retail, and the global toy industry.
Consumer behavior in the Netherlands - statistics & facts
The Netherlands is a relatively small, but wealthy country with a large consumer market located in Western Europe. From ethical shopping considerations influencing purchasing decisions to the effects of rising prices on shoppers’ habits and overall consumer confidence, consumerism in the Netherlands has seen a fair amount of change in recent years.
An interesting fact that sets the Netherlands apart from other European countries is the consumer’s favorite online web shop. Despite having been around for years now, Amazon has not been able to dethrone Bol.com as the country’s favorite e-commerce store. Bol.com, founded in Utrecht and owned by parent company Ahold, was the country’s first widely successful e-commerce platform, and was still used by about twice as many shoppers as Amazon in 2024.
Habits of the Dutch consumer
As is the case for many other shoppers around the world, some of the physical stores most frequently visited by Dutch shoppers in 2024 included apparel stores, supermarkets, as well as drugstores and/or perfumeries. Apparel and shoe stores ranked first, with nearly 70 percent of Dutch shoppers having made a purchase in such a store in the past 12 months. When asked why they preferred shopping in-store in 2023, some 60 percent said it allows them to better assess the quality of goods, while about 55 percent liked the fact that they can get their hands on the desired items immediately.When the Dutch shopper goes online
From a European and a global perspective, the e-commerce market in the Netherlands is highly developed and the Dutch are very used to purchasing their essential and non-essential items on the internet. In fact, over a third of consumers in the Netherlands shopped for goods online on a weekly basis in 2023. Overall, consumers of all age groups shopped online; with over 95 percent, Dutch people between the ages of 25 and 54 were the country’s leading online buyers, while those older than 64 years were less involved with online shopping channels.An interesting fact that sets the Netherlands apart from other European countries is the consumer’s favorite online web shop. Despite having been around for years now, Amazon has not been able to dethrone Bol.com as the country’s favorite e-commerce store. Bol.com, founded in Utrecht and owned by parent company Ahold, was the country’s first widely successful e-commerce platform, and was still used by about twice as many shoppers as Amazon in 2024.
