Retail sales in the Netherlands are expected to continue to trend upward  this year and in 2018, ABN Amro said in a report published on Thursday.

‘We have positive expectations for the next two years. Consumers have more to spend and unemployment is falling. This leads to increased spending and retailers will benefit,’ the ABN Amro report said.

The bank projects an 1.5% increase in sales volume this year, with gains of 1.3% in 2018. Sales volume was 1.4% higher year-on-year in 2016. Online sales rose by 18.6% in 2016 and are forecast to increase by 16% this year and by 15% in 2018.

Partly as a result of higher online sales, there have been fewer in-store purchases in recent years. High street sales were down by 23% last year compared to 2006. But increasingly, empty storefronts are being leased by restaurants and cafés.

The bank said 836 new lunchrooms and nearly 900 restaurants have opened in retail districts since 2010. This has a positive effect: the hospitality sector makes shopping more attractive, the report said.