Shops selling less, but earning more due to higher prices

Retailers in the Netherlands sold less in the second quarter of this year compared to a year earlier, but their turnover still rose due to higher prices, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. It was the fifth consecutive quarter in which retailers’ turnover increased due to higher prices. The last time retailers also sold more compared to the same period a year earlier was in the first quarter of 2022.

In the second quarter, retailers’ turnover increased by 6 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Their volume - turnover corrected for price increases - was almost 4 percent lower. In the food sector, turnover increased by almost 10 percent, while sales volume fell by 3 percent. In the non-food sector, turnover increased by 3 percent, and sales volume dropped by 4.6 percent.

The stats office noted that specialty food stores (-6.5 percent), DIY stores (-8.1 percent), and consumer electronics (-7.8 percent), in particular, saw their sales volumes fall as consumers opted for cheaper products or not to spend money on non-necessities.

Retailers’ online turnover increased by over 4 percent in the second quarter compared to the same quarter in 2022. Multichannelers - retailers that sell both online and in physical stores - particularly benefited here, with online turnover climbing 5 percent. Online-only stores saw their turnover grow by 4 percent.

Fewer retailers went bankrupt in the second quarter (59) than in the first quarter (86), even though the total number of bankruptcies rose from 728 in Q1 to 797 in Q2. Of all the bankruptcies declared in the second quarter, 7 percent were in the retail sector. In the first quarter of 2023, that was still 12 percent.