Building the Store of the Future 2030: inspiration from the Netherlands
11 June 2025Explore four areas in which the Netherlands excels in shaping the store of the future and see where you can gain inspiration.
Earlier this year, we visited the Netherlands, a hotbed of retail innovation. The country’s leading retailers are increasingly prioritising delivering value, investing in private label and in-store digital touchpoints.
We met the market’s leading retailers and visited over 40 stores in the country. In this article, we highlight areas where the Netherlands excels in shaping the store of the future and that others can gain inspiration from.
Optimising operations: standout initiative – deli fixtures at PLUS
This new concept PLUS supermarket represents much of the retailer’s latest thinking.
Against a backdrop of many European retailers stripping out counters driven by efficiency savings, we liked PLUS’s deli fixture. This was pre-packaged and fully self-service, although the low-level, stepped fixtures and signage imitated an independent staffed delicatessen.
Delivering value: standout initiative – private label at Jumbo
The Netherlands excels for private label innovation and development. On this trip, we were impressed with Jumbo’s new range, which aims to balance quality and affordability. It was created by the development team at Jumbo Food College and only features products rated eight or higher in tests. Impactful, bold, playful packaging and large format signage helped the range stand out across its estate.
Enhancing customer experience: standout initiative - Asian counter at PLUS
We loved how PLUS created an enticing central kitchen zone at the heart of the store. The sushi counter appealed with its unique look and feel and eye-catching range. The extensive selection included sushi and poke bowls, as well as vegetarian options. This was the most popular area of the store with shoppers during our visit.
Making a positive impact: standout initiative – celebrating health and sustainability at Albert Heijn
We were impressed by how the market leader puts health and sustainability front and centre with large-format backlit signage highlighting several ways it is ‘Making better food accessible together’. This unified approach helps to deliver impact at scale at the start of the customer journey.
This article highlights just a small selection of best practice we saw in the market. For more inspiration, read our Retail Analysis subscriber-only presentation, Store of the Future: inspiration from the Netherlands.
For more insight and inspiration on supermarkets, look out for our new insight presentation, Large Format Trends 2025, coming to Retail Analysis later this month.