More than half of all online shoppers have bought abroad last year - shows WIK Consult in their study on the development of cross-border e-commerce through parcel delivery. And half of these cross-border purchases were from other EU-EEA Member States, while one third were from China. 

The most outstanding result of the study is the number 1 ranking for The Netherlands with a 100% score on delivery quality, competitive landscape, USP performance and state of e-commerce. Four categories on which all European countries have been ranked. Thanks to the long tradition of distance selling, the Dutch logistical network has been developed as one of the best in Europe. 

Clothing, books and electronics: most popular product categories

Looking further into detail of cross border e-commerce orders; 33% of online shoppers in The Netherlands purchases goods in other countries. These purchases consist of mainly fashion (clothes and shoes) and electronics. 22% of online shoppers even bought twice or more times a months from a foreign online store. The delivery of these goods is of high quality, thanks to the many delivery locations (such as pick-up points) and delivery time options in The Netherlands. 

Customers receiving their package have to pay delivery costs, but 62% of them have not. Cross-border delivery was done for free for 43% and 19% free delivery was done with preconditions such as minimum order value. Interesting to know is the top-3 delivery location, of which 'home' is far most popular followed by a parcel shop, post office or central collection depot. Only 8% of the delivery has done at the neighbour's home. It is therefore that PostNL offers a wide range of delivery times and pickup locations to suit the customer's needs.