Online grocery shopping in the Netherlands doubled in 2014, with sales up 55% to €450m on the previous year.

The figures are contained in a report on the state of online grocery retail in Europe by the research department of the online product content platform company Syndy.

As well as the Netherlands, the report also looks at the UK, France and Germany, together the biggest ‘e-grocery’ markets in western Europe.

Although over 70% of the Dutch shop online, just 15% of them bought groceries via internet last year. This is a rise of 4% on 2013.

The online market is dominated by Albert Heijn, market leader in the physical world, followed by Jumbo and Deen. Online turnover is €450m.

Deliveries

According to Syndy, growth in the Dutch market is hampered by the high delivery costs. Albert Heijn, with delivery costing between €3.95 and €12.95, is blocking the growth of the e-grocery market, Syndy says.

The company does expect the online grocery market to expand over the coming years. The aggressive market approach of Jumbo should break open the market, it says.

Although 80% of customers prefer to have their groceries delivered to their door, the supermarkets are investing in collection points. These increased from 45 in 2013 to 350 last year, a rise of 680%.