Checklist

The NL/BE checkout checklist: 8 signals Dutch and Belgian shoppers look for

Translation is only half of localization. These are the checkout and trust signals we check on every audit — the things a Dutch or Belgian shopper notices even if your copy reads perfectly.

Published by the Localization Audit team · updated 2026-07-20

• iDEAL — the default online payment method in the Netherlands. If it's missing at checkout, a large share of Dutch shoppers will bounce before entering card details.
• Bancontact — the Belgian equivalent of iDEAL. We see this missed constantly, even on stores that otherwise localize well for the Netherlands — Belgium gets treated as an afterthought of the Dutch market instead of its own market.
• Prices shown in EUR, not just converted from USD/GBP at checkout — a price that visibly recalculates at the last step reads as a US store bolting on European shipping, not a store that actually sells here.
• Realistic shipping and return norms — Dutch and Belgian shoppers expect free or clearly-priced shipping thresholds and a straightforward return window stated up front, not buried in a policy page.
• A correctly localized legal footer — a real privacy policy and terms page in Dutch, in the formal register, not a machine-translated placeholder.
• Trust and urgency tone that isn't over-the-top — aggressive American-style urgency copy ("ONLY 2 LEFT — BUY NOW!!") tends to read as untrustworthy rather than persuasive to Dutch/Belgian shoppers, who respond better to plain, factual claims.
• A .nl or .be-aware locale switcher that actually works — several stores we've audited have the right currency and payment methods configured for Belgium but no way for a Belgian visitor to actually land on that version of the site.
• Customer service in the local language, not just the storefront — automated reply templates (order confirmations, review-reply templates) are often left in English even after the rest of the site is translated.