10 Brands Delivering Standout Customer Experiences in the Netherlands

 

Tag: CX Around the World

 

Which brands are creating customer experiences worth learning from in the Netherlands? The most useful answer is not a declaration of the ten ‘best’. Customer experience changes by sector, moment and customer need. A neighbourhood butcher, an online marketplace and a theme park may excel for very different reasons.

 

This article therefore brings together ten brands that are delivering standout experiences for customers in the Dutch market. Some are Dutch-born, while others are international brands operating in the Netherlands. The selection draws on recent independent studies and on the practical lessons each example offers. It is a conversation starter, not a definitive league table.

 

Research note. KPMG’s 2025 Dutch Customer Experience Excellence research assessed more than 5,000 consumers and 197 brands. MarketResponse’s 2026 customer-friendliness study drew on more than 100,000 customer assessments. Read the KPMG overview

 

Keurslager

Keurslager is a powerful reminder that sophisticated CX does not always begin with sophisticated technology. KPMG placed the special list butcher network first in its Dutch study for the fourth consecutive year. Its strength lies in familiarity, product knowledge, trust and advice that feels genuinely personal. The lesson is simple: when employees have the confidence and time to recognise customers, human attention becomes a competitive advantage.

 

bol.

bol. shows how a large digital platform can make complexity feel manageable. Search, recommendations, delivery choices, order updates and support are designed to reduce the effort required from the customer. KPMG placed bol. second in 2025, while MarketResponse also included it among the leading customer-friendly organisations in 2026. Its example demonstrates that digital scale works best when the journey still feels relevant and easy to navigate.

 

De Echte Bakker

De Echte Bakker combines local entrepreneurship with a recognisable quality promise. KPMG ranked it third in the Netherlands in 2025. The experience is built around fresh products, craftsmanship and direct contact at neighbourhood level. For larger organisations, the useful lesson is that consistency does not have to erase personality. A shared standard can give frontline teams a platform from which to create warm, local experiences.

 

Apple Store

Apple Store connects physical retail, product discovery, technical support and a wider digital ecosystem. KPMG placed it fourth in its 2025 Dutch ranking. Customers can move from researching online to exploring a product in store, arranging support or joining a learning session. The stores illustrate how a physical environment can do more than process transactions: it can build confidence and make a complex product feel approachable.

 

Van der Valk

Van der Valk combines a familiar hospitality proposition with increasingly convenient digital touchpoints. KPMG ranked the hotel group fifth in the Netherlands in 2025. Booking tools and practical information support the journey, but hospitality remains visible in the interactions that shape arrival, dining and the stay itself. The CX lesson is to let technology remove administration while employees concentrate on reassurance, recognition and care.

 

Welkoop

Welkoop was named the Netherlands’ most customer-friendly company in MarketResponse’s 2026 study. Customers particularly valued helpfulness, personal contact and practical problem resolution. In a category where shoppers often arrive with a specific question about a garden, animal or project, useful advice matters more than a generic sales script. Welkoop demonstrates the value of equipping frontline colleagues to diagnose needs and help customers make confident choices.

 

Specsavers

Specsavers placed second in MarketResponse’s 2026 customer-friendliness ranking. Its journey combines appointment booking, professional eye care, product selection and aftercare. That makes clarity and reassurance essential. The brand’s relevance to CX leaders lies in the way it brings clinical expertise and retail service into one experience, helping customers understand what happens next and where to turn when they need support.

 

Picnic

Picnic was third in MarketResponse’s 2026 ranking after taking first place in 2025. Its app-led model is designed around routine: a clear interface, predictable delivery windows, live updates and a doorstep interaction that gives a digital journey a human ending. Picnic shows that convenience is not one feature. It is the result of coordinating information, fulfilment, communication and recovery across the entire journey.

 

Rituals

Rituals turns shopping into a recognisable sensory and emotional experience. Stores, product presentation, gifting and digital channels all express a consistent idea of taking a meaningful pause. MarketResponse placed the brand fifth in 2026. The lesson is not simply to create attractive surroundings, but to ensure that service behaviour, language, packaging and online touchpoints all reinforce the same customer promise.

 

Coolblue

Coolblue remains one of the Netherlands’ most instructive digital CX brands. Its proposition is expressed through plain language, detailed product guidance, proactive delivery communication and a distinctive service tone. The company reported its highest net promoter score to date in its 2024 yearbook. Coolblue illustrates how operational detail and brand personality can support each other, especially when customers need certainty before and after a purchase.

 

What these brands teach us about CX

Human expertise still matters: Keurslager, De Echte Bakker, Welkoop and Specsavers show that informed, personal service can be as differentiating as a new digital feature

 

Convenience is an end-to-end discipline: bol., Picnic and Coolblue reduce effort by coordinating the journey across discovery, fulfilment, communication and support

 

A clear promise creates memory: Rituals, Apple Store and Van der Valk make their experience recognisable across physical and digital touchpoints

 

Which brand should we feature next?

This selection is deliberately open rather than definitive. Which other brand is creating an exceptional customer experience in the Netherlands? Tell us which organisation deserves a closer look, and what other CX markets you would like us to explore next.

 

Continue the conversation in Amsterdam

Exceptional customer experience is not created through one fixed formula. It develops when leaders compare approaches, challenge assumptions and learn from the realities of other organisations and markets.

 

Join the 12th Edition of Unleashing Digital Customer Experience & Customer Service on 2–3 November 2026 at De Balie in Amsterdam. Through executive case studies, interactive discussions, Brain Spa roundtables and extensive networking, senior leaders will brainstorm shared challenges, exchange best practices, benchmark strategies and learn from their peers.

 

Learn. Benchmark. Connect. Explore the summit and register your interest.

The brands are presented as editorial examples, not as a new cross-market ranking. Selection reflects recent independent research and the practical CX lesson each brand illustrates. Rankings use their publishers’ own methodologies and should not be treated as directly comparable.

 

KPMG Netherlands, De kracht van klantbeleving in 2025. Dutch Customer Experience Excellence findings and methodology.

 

KPMG, Global Customer Experience Excellence 2025–2026. Country rankings and international context.

 

MarketResponse, Klantvriendelijkste Bedrijf van Nederland 2026. 2026 customer-friendliness ranking and customer evidence.

 

Coolblue yearbooks. Company reporting on its customer metrics and operating model.