In the Netherlands, amazon is ‘only’ the 7th largest online retailer. Its presence on the Dutch market has, for now, been modest in comparison with Germany, where it is market leader by great margins. However, there are some signs that amazon is looking to increase its market share in the Netherlands.
Previously, Amazon has translated over 2 million German webpages to Dutch in order to establish presence in the Netherlands and sales are around €230 million. Amazon has recently been building a 110.000 m2 distribution centre in Monchengladbach, which is just over the German border. Furthermore, it has introduced Dutch payment system iDEAL and has introduced its Dutch version of Prime Day.
In 2018, Bol.com and Coolblue had growth rates of respectively 30% and 40%. Question is if these Dutch retail giants should fear a possible new entrant. On the one hand, Amazon scale and marketing budgets would be very difficult to compete against. On the other, Amazon has an expensive image in Dutch market research, and consumers are not particularly trustworthy of the retail giant.
CEO Huub Vermeulen of Bol.com envisions that the future of bol.com is to function as a platform, where everybody can buy and sell products. Bol.com seems to anticipate the entry of international players as well as the rise of competitors as Coolblue. Amazon excels in the amount of data, logistic power and scale. They are able to serve a more complete customer journey, however they do not have the strong reputation as a pleasant business partner. If Bol.com wants to remain its leading position in case on an entrance, they should become the ideal partner of the sellers it can attract to its platform. What do you think? Will Amazon enter the dutch retail market? And how should current market leaders react to a potential entry?
References
https://www.privacyshield.gov/article?id=Germany-eCommerce
https://retailtrends.nl/news/53996/bol-com-blijft-de-grootste-webshop-zalando-terug-in-top-drie
https://www.logistiek.nl/supply-chain/nieuws/2019/06/bol-com-zet-volgende-stap-op-weg-naar-platform-101168602
https://retailtrends.nl/item/56980/bol-com-vs-amazon-gaat-de-strijd-nu-echt-beginnen-
https://www.dgoc.nl/amazon-in-nederland/
https://www.marketingfacts.nl/berichten/komt-amazon-naar-nederland
