In 2024, half of the Dutch consumer purchased products for the lowest possible price. This is evident from the annual e-commerce report from financial service provider Mollie, based on a survey among 2,000 Dutch people. But those low prices often have a hidden price, especially in the fashion industry.
- In 2024, half of Dutch consumers gave priority to the lowest price.
- This trend of price -conscious shopping has hidden costs, including the exploitation of clothing workers in low -wage countries.
- The ‘artificially low prices’ stimulate excessive consumption, which contributes to environmental problems.
The trend of online price -conscious shopping is growing. In 2024, 37 percent of consumers said more often to make use of discounts, compared to 29 percent in 2023. The price also plays an important role in the choice of an online retailer: in 2024 48 percent indicated that they opted for the cheaper option, Compared to 38 percent in 2023. Consumers also pay more attention to the additional benefits, such as free shipping (40 percent) and confidence in the seller (37 percent).
It is striking that free returns have become less important for consumers, from 43 percent in 2023 to 27 percent in 2024. At the same time, more research is being conducted into products: in 2023, 31 percent of consumers did prior to a purchase of research, in 2024 this was this rose to 47 percent. Consumers use platforms such as YouTube (47 percent), Instagram (41 percent) and Facebook (39 percent).
The true price of cheap
Although the low price of, for example, a T-shirt seems attractive to large fashion chains, cheap fashion often has hidden humanitarian and environmental costs. In the fashion industry, the low price is often made possible by the exploitation of clothing workers in low-wage countries, FashionUnited reported earlier. Findings showed that factories of large fashion brands exploit Workers in Pakistan by “hiring them in less formal ways to reduce risks and save costs”, making more than a third of the respondents less than the minimum wage earned.
In addition, a low price often has a psychological effect, which means that consumers are inclined to buy more than they actually need. Moreover, a low price often means that cheaper materials are used, such as fibers that cannot be recycled. Rob Hofland, chairman of D66 in Amsterdam, said in an interview with FashionUnited: “Many products seem cheap, but those low prices are artificial. Low prices stimulate consumption behavior, which contributes to the current climate crisis.”
