Record number of stores join online marketplaces

Many retailers had to close their doors temporarily in 2020 and will continue to need to do so in 2021. Thankfully, online marketplaces gave companies the opportunity to continue to keep their businesses running. For software providers for these Dutch platforms, this means all hands on deck to make sure that online sales run smoothly, NU.nl reports.

“In 2020 we had around 24 thousand paying customers. Now it is more than 48 thousand”, Wouter Twisk from the software provider JouwWeb said to NU.nl. “At the same time, we see that online stores are making two or three times the amount of revenue because more orders are being placed.”

According to Twisk ,the first increase was initially seen during the first wave. “But also afterward the number of requests was larger than usual, although it did slow down slightly.” When the second outbreak came, the number of customers rose again rapidly. “Now that on-site pick-up is possible again, there is even more demand.”

Not only JouwWeb, but also other service providers for web stores have noticed of the growing trend. “On the one hand, you have a group of people who are bored at home and start a webshop. On the other hand, many shops that were forced to close that did not have an online store at the time are now starting one”, Luuk van de Ruit from software provider, Shoppagina, says.

PostNL delivered a record number of packages at 337 million, more than seven percent of which were attributed specifically due to the coronavirus crisis.

Reports from the payment system iDeal showed that 30 percent more transactions were completed on the platform in 2020 compared to 2019. Overall, 890 million transactions worth 70 billion euros were made in the past year.

Statistics from the Home Shopping Market Monitor showed that consumer spending and the number of online purchases shot up in the third quarter of 2020, similar to the same period a year prior. In total, online spending increased by four percent totaling 5.7 billion euros. The overall number of online purchases rose by 23 percent to 75.9 million.

Danny de Pee from software provider, Mijnwebwinkel, reported three to four times more customers than usual. De Pee also said that clients are spending nearly double the amount compared to prior the coronavirus crisis.

He expects the number of customers to continue to rise. “My prediction is that it will stay this busy in the coming months. I think we can speak here of a trend. Consumer behavior has changed during the pandemic. The threshold for buying online has become much easier to cross. It’s like working from home: we’ll continue to do that when this is over.”