Sales at Dutch online retail company Bol.com have soared almost 40% in the first three months of this year as coronavirus drives people to switch to online shopping.

And third party sellers who use the Bol.com platform saw their sales rise by more than 66%, with the number of sellers rising to 21,000, the company said.

Parent company Ahold Delhaize, which also includes the Albert Heijn supermarket chain, Gall & Gall wine and spirit shops and Etos chemists, saw sales rise nearly 15% to €18bn in the first quarter, compared with a year ago.

Sales growth in Europe was 11%, while European online sales were up 25%, the company said in its quarterly update.

With the exception of Bol.com, Ahold Delhaize does not provide differentiated figures for its other outlets in quarterly figures.