More shoppers and online purchases in first half year due to corona

The Dutch made online purchases more often in the first six months of this year. Especially in the months of April, May and June there were hundreds of thousands of customers more than in the same period last year. This is evident from figures from the trade association Thuiswinkel.org. He attributes the developments to the consequences of the corona virus. This trend is expected to continue in the coming months.

In total, more than 12 billion euros was spent on online purchases in the first six months, a record amount. The strong growth in the second quarter is mainly in product sales, which rose by 52 percent. On the other hand, there was a very large decrease in the sale of services, such as holiday travel, accommodations and tickets, by 45 percent.

800,000 new e-shoppers

“Many people had to stay at home and visited web stores for their purchases, resulting in many new online buyers and a higher amount spent per buyer”, says Wijnand Jongen, director of Thuiswinkel.org. There were 800,000 more e-shoppers in the second quarter than a year ago.

Boy thinks the increase is permanent. “People have discovered online shopping and have been helped by corona. Almost a million people made online purchases for the first time and we see that at least half of them stick.”

DIY-companies

The largest growth in online purchases was achieved at DIY and garden stores (plus 121 percent) and home improvement stores (plus 105 percent). Sports, recreation and outdoor shops also did well.

Staying at home and working from home also led to more online shopping at supermarkets and food stores. Consumers spent more than 700 million euros, an increase of 69 percent.

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