The Netherlands
Payment methods
Offering the right payment methods can be absolutely essential to your online success: over 70% of the online customers reported that they would suspend their online purchase if their preferred payment methods was not available. Most popular payment methods in the Netherlands are:
- 55% IDeal
- 23% Credit card
- 15% Direct debit
- 7% Paypal
Cultural differences
The Dutch are known to be open-minded, tolerant and straightforward. While in Germany for example it is much more common to communicate via email, many Dutch people prefer calling their collegues or partners to arrange things. That might also be due to the fact that the Dutch are said to prefer personal contact and be less hierarchically structured than other countries.
For the majority of the Dutch, speaking English is not an obstacle – even the German language is often not a problem. But if you would really like to make a difference for your Dutch customers, you should definetly translate it to Dutch and adapt it to our local preferences. Leads International can help you with this process and support you in adapting you strategy for the Dutch market.
Another interesting aspect of the Dutch market is the fact that is almost untouched by the online-shopping giants Amazon or Ebay: While these players dominate many other European markets, only Zalando is dominant on the Dutch market so far. Most revenues are generated on local platforms such as bol.com or Thuisbezorgd.
Online behaviour
The Dutch are thrifty people. Comparing prices is an important aspect of online shopping, as well as free shipping and returns. Product reviews are highly valued, as well as quick delivery. Most popular items for online shopping are clothes and air fares – in those sectors, more than 85% of sales are processed online. Distinct for the Dutch market is also the distribution of mobile devices: while in most other european markets, smartphones are dominant when it comes to M-commerce, in the Netherlands, more purchases are made via tables.
