Because of its proximity, the Dutch fashion market is interesting for German fashion companies. The fits are similar and so is the preference for simple and sporty clothing. But the corona virus has also had a major impact on the industry in the Netherlands. Here are some facts and figures to know about neighbors’ shopping behavior between online and offline.
According to the industry organization Modint, which has collected statistics from CBS, among other things, there are around 20,000 addresses for clothing and textiles and more than 10,000 online shops for clothing in the Netherlands, 400 of which are larger. These figures are the most recent and were collected or estimated at the end of 2019, but then the pandemic came and may have led to changes.
Dutch people prefer physical shopping
Around 2.2 million Dutch people did not buy anything online in 2019. The Dutch statistics office CBS also reported that 80 percent prefer to visit a store – for example to see the product in real life.
Before the corona pandemic, i.e. in 2019, 80 percent of sales in the fashion industry in the Netherlands came from physical stores, according to the industry organization INretail.
What Dutch consumers find important in-store is offer and assortment (offer me what I need), store design (help me to find what I need), shopping experience (surprise me with a place where there is something to experience), customer contact (she me, and be there for me) and identity (show me what you stand for and what’s happening behind the scenes). This is what retail consultancy Crossmarks found out in 2019. The company researched the 40 most inspirational retailers in the Netherlands and, based on the results, identified five pillars of inspiration. In the Crossmarks survey, 86 percent of people also said they were willing to pay more for a better shopping experience.
Omnichannel is gaining in importance
A September study by Dutch bank Abn Amro shows that while the physical store is still the preferred shopping channel, the rise of online continues.
The pandemic has changed shopping behavior. Shopping is less fun than before, big cities are being avoided and more local shopping is being done. Consumers buy local, less and better. For example, buying sustainable products has become more important for 28 percent of the Dutch. On the other hand, inexpensive items have become even more important.
The Dutch are real omnichannel shoppers, as the digital consultancy Blis found out in 2019. 44 percent of the population also want the shopping experience to remain the same, regardless of which distribution channel they choose: in store, online or via mobile device. Omnichannel shopping is very important for the customer experience.
Clothing is one of the most popular internet purchases
According to data from the Dutch statistics office CBS, clothing is one of the most popular online purchases. The Dutch now buy an average of 34 percent of their clothing online. This percentage is expected to rise to 44 percent in five years.
Most internet purchases in the Netherlands are already made via smartphones. Clothing and shoes have the highest proportion of mobile purchases.
Return options, shipping costs and return costs – in this order – are the most important aspects for Dutch consumers according to the 2017 GfK survey “The Online Fashion Shopper Journey”. In the market researcher’s study, 26 retailers who sell fashion online were evaluated by more than 5,000 respondents. It should be noted that about a third of clothing orders are returned. The most popular payment method in the Netherlands is via Ideal. Subsequent payment, for example with providers such as Klarna and Afterpay, is also on the rise.
Dutch people are increasingly shopping online
The Dutch population is increasingly shopping via the Internet, as the Statistics Office found two years ago in a report on online shopping behavior in the Netherlands. Not only are more and more people shopping online, the amount spent there has also been higher in recent years, CBS wrote.
Some figures to illustrate: In the first half of 2021, online spending grew to almost 15 billion euros. In 2020, the Dutch spent 26.6 billion euros online, 7 percent more than a year earlier. People have been buying more online than ever before because of the pandemic. But it is also predicted that while e-commerce will continue to grow, it will be at a slower pace. And new preliminary quarterly retail numbers from CBS seem to confirm that.
Online growth slows
In the fourth quarter of 2021, internet retail sales growth slowed further and was around 3 percent above the prior-year level. The Dutch statistical office reported this in the previous week on the basis of preliminary quarterly figures. “Internet sales growth for retailers hasn’t been this low since we began measuring it in 2014,” reports the CBS.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, internet sales for multichannel providers who sell both online and in brick-and-mortar stores were around 2 percent higher than in the same period of the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2020, online sales rose by almost 70 percent compared to the same period last year. These figures show how strong growth is slowing down. For pure online players, the increase in sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 was almost 5 percent, a year earlier it was 44 percent according to CBS.
Fashion on the rise
Total retail sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 were approximately 6 percent higher than in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Adjusted for price changes, sales increased by about 4 percent.
This increase in sales is due to the non-food sector. Revenue in this sector was more than 11 percent higher than a year earlier and rose more than 7 percent on a price-adjusted basis. Clothing stores in particular turned over more (34 percent), but sales were still below the level of the fourth quarter of 2019. Shoe stores also saw a strong increase in sales at the end of 2021 after a sales decline a year earlier.
This translated and edited post previously appeared on FashionUnited.nl.