eager to talk about any additional e-commerce developments especially relevant or distinctive for your industryA number of e-commerce initiatives are changing the Irish market.Business-to consumer sales have skyrocket over the last three years; projections of continuous growth abound. Complicating customs and tax laws, Irish customers are switching from UK websites
to other European sites most famously using Amazon.de rather than amazon.co.uk. Companies are leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate tasks, improve decision-making, and provide better consumer experiences while third-party cookies decline. Government limits on card payments support the explosion in m-commerce brought forth by increasing smartphone use and 5G. At last, driven by environmental consciousness
and waste reduction campaigns led by the Green Party's participation in Government, second-hand and sustainable products are drawing more and more attention.In your market, are there national policies under review that will most likely influence e-commerce?Political and legislative discussions in the Netherlands during the past year have largely focused on the e-commerce sector.Subjects including green claims, free returns, disposal of unsold
items options and advertising have received plenty
of publicity in the media and political arenas.This has inspired national campaigns on corporate responsibility and rules for drivers of electric automobiles. Political influence on BNPL solutions is growing; some MPs call for limitations. BNPL is not necessary even if it is crucial to ensure that these decisions are moral and safe. The only EU country forcing internet companies to offer a payment system allowing consumers to pay at least 50% later is the
Netherlands; this restriction should be eliminated to assure a level playing field. In the e-commerce space, consumer fraud—where customers claim they never received their product or return something different—has also grown. To combat this and exchange information about potential fraudste, the Dutch government has launched a coordinated campaign comprising partners from the complete value chain.How are returns presently occurring in the
Netherlands impacting efforts on sustainability More people are interested in sustainable mobility including store-based distribution strategies, carbon-neutral logistics fleets, and bicycle delivery. These days, cities also feature growing numbers of environmental and zero-emissions zones. More online retailers charge for returns to discourage unnecessary returns.
Sustainable delivery options are being used
by online stores and delivery businesses more and more. Two absolutely essential are openness on CO2 emissions per delivery and a harmonic method of measuring these emissions. Research from Thuiswinkel.org shows that since 2018, last-mile CO2 emissions for e-commerce goods have reduced 56%. Currently averaging 100 grams each delivery, this helps to target a 90% reduction by 2030. Technologically: Has the way stores use digitization
and technology evolved over last year? If so, what changes stores—especially SMEs—have made Especially SMEs, digitalization and technology utilization among e-retailers have lately expanded. Many retailers sped up their digital transition to meet evolving consumer preferences and behavior brought about by the epidemic. SMEs are supporting e-commerce platforms, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, and omnichannel solutions more and more
in order to raise their online presence and consumer experience. Another area they stress to enable operations be more cost-effective, efficient, and simplified is data analytics Since issues over data sharing with the United States following the Schrems II verdict and the phase-out of third-party cookie tracking have brought top attention, many e- commercecompanies have given data collecting top priority.RS stands for Many new
legislation produced by the outgoing EU mandate
are still only partially national in effect. Are EU rules currently being followed into national law of the Netherlands which are garnering public attention and area 50% circular economy by 2030 and a totally circular economy by 2050? Encouragement of eco-design, waste reducing, and re-use will all help with this change. While European Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules are important, current fragmentation of Europe stunts growth. We believe future
rules will harmonize EPR systems. One bottleneck has to do with the right to repair, specifically with relation to the compliance time after repair. A two-year extension of this could hurt the Dutch market, which operates on open standards different from other EU states.
The European Commission passed notable digital industry laws like the Digital Services Act
and the AI Act. Compliance creates financial and staffing challenges even if it provides benefits. Effective from 28 June 2025, the European Accessibility Act will profoundly change the e-commerce sector. We support companies being ready for this. The Dutch government is also building a digital identity wallet consistent with eIDAS2 specifications while stakeholder
Conclusion
to support this is Thuiswinkel.org.Eco-friendly: Currently under development in the Netherlands are packaging projects as well as second-hand product initiatives The e-commerce sector is embracing environmentalism while companies support sustainable business practices. Companies must consequently also deal with financial uncertainty, high expenses, workforce shortages, and regulatory pressure, so hindering development and
inventiveness. Understanding the importance of this shift, Thuiswinkel.org believes it will enable online retailers to veers toward a sustainable future. Working with business leaders, we developed a certification scheme for sustainable e-commerce, providing online retailers who improve their operations in areas including strategy, delivery, returns, packaging, circular economy, and product offering recognition. This independently approved initiative fosters
consistent communication on sustainability. We also want to have this benchmark established outside of Europe. Fair competition and investment in circular models creating specific challenges depend on same criteria and good implementation. Aiming for the Netherlands, the Dutch National Circular Economy Program 2023–2030 conforms the circular economy
