Buying alcohol remotely: understanding purchases from domestic and foreign online providers

In preparation for a new Alcohol Act, Ecorys together with Dialogic and Dynata conducted a study on remote alcohol sales in the Netherlands for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. The study consists of two phases. A baseline measurement of the current situation of remote sales of alcoholic beverages and an impact study after two years on the effects of the new rules for remote sales. The baseline measurement was recently completed and published as part of a larger body of reports and studies on alcohol prevention.

The purpose of the research is to gain insight into how the introduction of the new Alcohol Act will affect the competitive position of Dutch online alcohol sellers. To this end, Ecorys combined a consumer survey, an analysis of Internet traffic and research of online alcohol regulation in other countries.

Online alcohol purchasing
The baseline measurement yielded some key insights regarding the state of affairs. For example, 18% of Dutch people have purchased alcoholic beverages online in the past two years. Of the alcoholic beverages bought online by Dutch consumers, 79% came from Dutch providers. Young people (14-17 years old) appear to arrive at alcohol websites relatively often through advertising on social media (26%).

Age verification
In 67% of cases, Dutch providers surveyed visibly used an age limit – this is between the percentage of Belgium (62%) and Germany (77%). Usually this age verification consists of checking a box (Netherlands and Belgium) or filling in age (Germany).

Want to know more? Read the research report (pdf) to learn more.

Do you have a question or would you like more information about our approach? Then please contact Martin van der Ende.