E-commerce monitor 2017: rise smartphone 72% and iDEAL remains the leader

Number of shopping trips with smartphone continues to rise; + 72% in 2017

The number of online purchases made with a smartphone increased by 72% in 2017 compared to a year earlier, to 25.7 million. With this, the smartphone has a share of 13% of the 202 million online purchases made in 2017 (in 2016 this was still 9%). When making online purchases, iDEAL remains the most used payment method, while the payment methods Klarna and AfterPay show a substantial increase compared to 2016. This is evident from figures from the eCommerce Payment Monitor, the study into payment methods in the Netherlands that is being conducted by GfK, in collaboration with iDEAL and Thuiswinkel.org.

Based on the number of purchases, the total online market in 2017 will grow by 17% compared to 2016. Whereas in 2016 only 173 million online purchases were made, in 2017 this increased to 202 million. With 56%, iDEAL remains the most popular payment method of all online purchases, followed by the credit card (11%). 

Klarna and AfterPay show substantial growth in the number of purchases

If we look at the number of online purchases per payment method in 2017, iDEAL is showing growth that is in line with the development of the total online market (+ 16%). This means that the share of iDEAL remains virtually the same as in 2016 (56% versus 57%). Although the number of online purchases via PIN transactions (+ 41%) and PayPal (+ 28%) is growing considerably faster than the total online market, the relatively new payment methods (and post-payment methods) Klarna and AfterPay show relatively the highest growth this year. The number of purchases settled with Klarna has increased by 93% compared to 2016 and the number of purchases settled with AfterPay by 65%. For the first time in 2017, the share of the more traditional post-payment method Acceptgiro (2.8%) is lower than the share of Klarna and AfterPay combined (4.4%).

In total, four out of ten online buyers sometimes made use of post-pay in the fourth quarter of 2017 when purchasing products. In addition, 7% of online buyers (almost) always make use of the option to pay afterwards when making product purchases. . Within 39% of online shoppers who sometimes pay afterwards, paying in arrears is especially popular for the Clothing (46%) product segments, followed by Media & Entertainment (25%), Shoes & Lifestyle (17%), Toys (16%) and Food / Nearfood / Health (13%).

Number of purchases via the smartphone shows an increase of + 72%

Whereas in 2016 9% of all online purchases were made with a smartphone, in 2017 13% is done with a smartphone. This share comes at the expense of the desktop and laptop. The share of smartphone is highest within the product segments Shoes & Lifestyle (16%), Media & Entertainment (16%) and Food / Nearfood (15%). Most purchases on the smartphone are settled with iDEAL. This share has again increased from 47% in 2016 to 52% in 2017.

The number of online purchases via the smartphone grew by 72% last year compared to 2016. In 2017, this resulted in 25.7 million purchases made via the smartphone. The penetration of the smartphone when making online purchases also continues to increase. In 2016, 28% of online buyers had used a smartphone for at least one of their online purchases, and in 2017 this had risen to 34%. We see that the penetration of the smartphone is considerably higher among young people than among older people; in the case of young people, 52% of online buyers took the smartphone for at least one of their purchases, whereas this is 16% among the elderly (50 years and older). In 2016 this was 45% for young people and 13% for the elderly.

If we look at the growth in the number of purchases, we see that the number of purchases via the smartphone has risen the fastest in the segments Food / Nearfood (+ 149%), Package travel (+ 136%) and Schoenen & Personal Lifestyle (+ 116%).

Currence iDEAL expects the smartphone to be used more often in 2018 for payments from purchases on other devices. Following the example of Knab and Rabobank, the larger Dutch banks (including Triodos) this year their mobile apps with the ability to scan iDEAL QR codes. Piet Mallekoote director of Currence iDEAL: “Mobile payment with iDEAL has already taken off. With the extension of iDEAL QR, physical and online purchases can seamlessly connect. This also bridges the gap between desktop / laptop and mobile. ”

The year of the PSD2

"The past year has shown that the world of payments is not standing still," said Just Hasselaar, policy adviser digital transactions at Thuiswinkel.org. “2017 is the last full year in which we still lived in the old payment world; 2018 is the year of PSD2. Although we are lagging behind in the Netherlands with the introduction of this new law, it will be exciting to see what will change. In any case, new players and payment methods are coming. "