The Netherlands: mobile spending jumps to EUR 1.3 billion in 2013

H2 2013 mobile spending totaled EUR 735 million, which means 13% of the total ecommerce market. Smartphone and tablet sales more than doubled in comparison with the same period in 2012, according to the 2013-2 M-commerce Monitor, the six-monthly research into mobile consumer spending conducted by Blauw Research. The research was conducted in cooperation with Thuiswinkel.org, the association of more than 2,000 online shops in the Netherlands, and was also made possible by iDEAL.

According to Wijnand Jongen, Director of Thuiswinkel.org, in 2012, m-commerce was worth EUR 560 million, whereas in 2013 it went up to EUR 1.3 billion. The share of products and services acquired via smartphones reached almost 30%, representing nearly EUR 400 million.

The strong increase in mobile consumer spending is partly due to the fact that more and more people purchase online using their smartphone or tablet. The number of mobile buyers increased to 2.7 million in the last six months of 2013. This is almost twice as compared to 2012.

In H2 2013, more than 14 million orders were placed through mobile devices, accounting for a growth of 84% compared to H2 2012. Cumulatively, more than 26 million online orders were placed through a smartphone or tablet in 2013. Consumers also make larger or more expensive purchases increasingly often through their mobile devices. On average, consumers spent EUR 52 per order in the last six months of the year, which was 21% more than in 2012. Generally speaking, payment of mobile purchases primarily takes place with iDEAL, just as is the case with other online purchases.

The same source indicates that most purchases are made through tablets. 7 in 10 consumers order their products and/or services primarily via mobile devices. Almost 75% of mobile spending was made with the use of tablets (€ 532 million). Tablets are especially used at home, often as a replacement of laptops. Nearly all mobile buyers who made their last order on this device did so from their homes (96%). Smartphones are more often used outside the home (such as en route or at work) for mobile shopping (37%).

People who buy online using their tablet are more positive about mobile shopping than the ones who use their smartphone. As a result, they make almost half of their online purchases using a mobile device. People who use their smartphone for mobile shopping still make one third of their online orders through a mobile device.

It is expected that mobile spending will continue to increase significantly to a turnover of around EUR 2 billion in 2014. This amounts to about 17% of the total online shopping market.