Leading online marketplaces in the Netherlands 2023, based on visit share

The secondhand C2C platform Marktplaats.nl was the second-most visited online marketplace in the Netherlands in 2023, garnering 21 percent of all online page visits to marketplaces in the country. Dutch online retailer bol.com ranked first with just over 21.66 percent of visits. The top three was completed by the global leviathan of e-commerce Amazon, attracting just over seven percent of visits in this category.

E-commerce: a Dutch tradition

The Netherlands have been frontrunners in e-commerce ever since the internet became a widespread phenomenon. Back in 2007, when e-commerce was still playing a very small role in most Western countries, the Netherlands already counted over 5,000 online shops and mail order companies. This early adoption of online shopping partly explains the resistance of platforms such as Marktplaats and bol.com against the invasion of foreign e-commerce giants.

National companies control the market

Contrary to many other European markets, the online marketplace landscape in the Netherlands is still dominated by Dutch companies. Whereas Amazon has been the market leader in e-commerce in neighboring country Germany for years, the recently launched amazon.nl is failing to conquer the Dutch market. Similarly, while eBay is the leading domestic classified ads site in most Western countries, local platform Marktplaats.nl holds a firm grip on the market.