Opportunities for e-commerce
The Dutch market for e-commerce is mature. In the first quarter of 2019, 20% of online purchases were made via smartphones. This means that e-commerce companies not only need to have a website to do business. Also make their products available in an app on smartphones and tablets. Websites must therefore be secure and responsive for many different laptops, smartphones and tablets.
Customers are becoming more critical, competition is growing and the playing field is becoming more international. The one-size-fits-all approach no longer works.
If you are interested in opportunities for e-commerce in The Netherlands, we suggest you also read:
Customers are not easy to satisfy
Webshops are becoming more personal, relevant and local. Relevant developments include videos to increase sales, implement chatbots and virtual assistants, voice searches and data-driven marketing and conversion optimization.
Especially for smaller companies there are many opportunities in e-commerce: more service, more personal and more voice and video.
Relevant e-commerce trends for 2020 are: Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, Voice Search & Impact on SEO, Big Data in the Service of Ultra-Personalization, Research Online Purchase Offline (ROPO) and Blockchain.
Sources: Thuiswinkel.org, Internet Marketing Union and sendcloud
Involvement of the EU
The European Commission has worked to remove online barriers that prevent people from having full access to all goods and services offered by businesses in the EU. For example, by removing unjustified cross-border obstacles, allowing cheaper cross-border parcel delivery, protecting the rights of online customers and promoting cross-border access to online content.
Source: European Commission
Price information:
- Webshops are sold for between € 5.000 and € 20.000
- The average hourly rate for virtual reality expertise is €75
Conclusion
What does this mean?
- There is a business opportunity in providing support for voice, video, chat and personalized buying experiences
- There is an opportunity for companies to make websites adaptive for mobile devices
- In 2020 there are opportunities for Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality and Blockchain
- This is an attractive segment for foreign companies
What to do?
- Use references from other customers and publish white papers about these services
- Define a unique value proposition
Augmented & Virtual reality
Price information:
The average hourly rate for expertise in the field of Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality is € 75.
Size of the market
- Augmented Reality: There were between 122 and 205 vacancies at the end of August 2019. These vacancies were mainly in Amsterdam and Utrecht
- Virtual Reality: At the end of August 2019, there were between 219 and 312 vacancies. These vacancies were mainly in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and Delft
What does this mean?
- This is a segment that is growing now and is expected to grow even more in 2020
- Adding Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality to e-commerce / webshops is expected to be a trend for 2020
- This is a very attractive segment for foreign companies
What to do?
- Use references from other customers and publish white papers about these services
- Start building brand awareness in this segment focused on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for e-commerce and webshops
- Define a unique value proposition
