Consumer purchases during the Christmas period are expected to push retail sales to a record €840m, sector organisation Detailhandel Nederland said.

This is substantially higher than than the €815m Dutch consumers spent in 2015 on Christmas gifts as well as ingredients for Christmas lunch and special clothing for the festivities, the organisation said. The 2015 figure was also a record.

Saturday was the busiest shopping day of the year so far, the Telegraaf said at the weekend. In Amsterdam there were long queues at cash registers and some shops closed their doors because they were so busy, the Telegraaf said.

Meanwhile Dutch shoppers are experiencing increased difficulties with shopping online, the statistics office CBS said on Monday.

The CBS reported 42% of online shoppers reported problems with online shopping for goods or services in 2016, up from 40% in the year-earlier period.

The main problem was with delivery, with 23% saying delivery was too late. Another 12% had technical problems relating to buying on the internet. And a further 9% said they received the wrong or damaged goods.

CBS said 6% of respondents failed to receive any goods or services at all and 3% claimed they were victims of digital fraud.