The growth in online food product sales in the Netherlands is well above expectations. According to a survey by Deloitte, online sales now account for 4.8% of major retailers’ sales compared to 3.2% last year and 2.1% two years ago. One of the main growth drivers is consumers’ growing familiarity with use of the web for food purchases.

According to Deloitte, 12% of consumers purchase food online, double the figure for two years ago. Not only have the number of people who make online purchases increased, so too has the frequency of their purchases. Consumers have made online purchases on average 28 times a year (compared to 21 last year). As for delivery methods, most online shoppers (70%) prefer home delivery while 18% of respondents prefer in-store collection due to the flexibility it offers.