Retail and e-commerce - March 2019

28 March 2019

Dutch shopped 242 million times online in 2018
In 2018, 96% of Dutch consumers aged 15 and over made one or more online purchases of products and services. This is 2% more than the year before. These online buyers spent a total of €23.7 billion (+10%) on 242 million online purchases. These are the results of the Thuiswinkel.org (in Dutch) ‘Thuiswinkel’ Market Monitor. More results can be found in an infographic (in Dutch, 1.23 MB).

Web customers for premium products, challenges for private label
According to a recent Nielsen survey, 45% of global consumers say they are shopping for premium products online from their home country e-retailers, whereas almost a quarter (24%) say they’re purchasing from overseas e-retailers. Consumers from developing countries like India (72%), Turkey (66%) and Indonesia (58%) are the most likely to shop online locally for premium products. You can download the report after filling in your details.
The Private Label Collaboration Survey by Trace One examines the opportunities for collaboration between retailers and consumer goods manufacturers in the rapidly changing retail landscape. Reducing risk, controlling costs and strengthening brand proposition are essential elements of joint success. You can download the report after filling in your details.

E-commerce sector draws up environmental balance sheet 2015-2018, looks ahead
On 21 February, Thuiswinkel.org (in Dutch) presented the new Sector Sustainability Plans (in Dutch, 1.01 MB) Packaging E-commerce sector 2018-2022 to the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. Besides objectives in the field of reducing packaging and the use of sustainable materials, the sector is planning to do research on reusable packaging.
Work is also underway on a number of pilots based on circularity, ShoppingTomorrow (in Dutch) recently announced. A Blue Paper (in Dutch) has been published on this subject that you can download after filling in your details.

75% of Brits want e-commerce parcels minimised
In a survey of UK adults by Whistl, 75% of respondents said they wanted e-retailers to minimise parcel packaging waste and use environmentally friendly materials for packaging their online purchases. In a surprise finding, Millennials do not appear to be as environmentally friendly as previously thought as they find excess packaging to be less of an issue than for those aged over 35. More detailed survey results can be found here.

Design for Intended Use (DIU) in e-commerce, Sameday Bot
Because e-commerce creates a fundamental paradigm shift in the supply chain, CPGs must “design for intended use,” according to NVC Managing Director Michael Nieuwesteeg. He said that there is a need to innovate in packaging design, including the disposal or return of emptied packaging by the consumer. He gave a presentation on the direction Web Retail Packaging is heading during the 7th ISTA European Packaging Symposium in Amsterdam. Packaging World published an article about his presentation.
FedEx recently announced their SameDay Bot: an autonomous delivery device designed to help retailers make same-day and last mile deliveries to their customers.

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