Amazon’s European operation now encompasses the Northern European bloc of France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, after the launch of Amazon.com.be last month.
However, the popularity of the U.S. eCommerce behemoth is not uniformly dispersed across the bloc; in Belgium and the Netherlands, it is a very minor player compared to its market domination elsewhere.
Amazon, for instance, dominates the eCommerce industry in France and Germany, but according to statistics from the market research company ecommerceDB, it doesn’t even rank in the top five in the Netherlands or Belgium, where it faces competition from regional players like Coolblue, Mediamarkt, and Bol.com.
In fact, at a third-quarter (Q3) results presentation on Wednesday, November 9th, Ahold Delhaize, the parent company of Bol.com, said that the subsidiary had increased its eCommerce market share by 5.6% compared to the same time previous year. Third-quarter net consumer internet sales recorded by Bol.com were also a considerable €1.2 billion.
As Frans Muller, president and CEO of Ahold Delhaize said in a statement, “This was driven by double-digit growth in third-party partner network sales [supported by] the logistical strength of its new distribution facility, which opened earlier this year.”
Certainly, if the size of its warehouses is any indication, Bol.com’s dominance in the Dutch market gives Ahold Delhaize the ability to repel Amazon’s massive logistical capabilities. The massive 240,000-square-meter extension to which Muller alluded dwarfs the 8,500-square-meter Schiphol delivery station, Amazon’s lone presence in the Netherlands.
Amazon maintains fulfilment facilities in neighbouring countries that it may utilise to service Dutch consumers, but in the Netherlands, it lacks the logistical infrastructure required to enable same- or next-day Prime delivery to the same degree as in other countries.
In addition, while Amazon.nl has more third-party sellers than the 50,000 listed on Bol.com’s platform, research conducted earlier this year indicates that just 2% of these merchants are local. The data also indicates that the majority of Dutch Amazon sellers organise their own shipping, as opposed to depending on Amazon’s fulfilment services.
Enhanced Logistics Productivity
In the last year, Bol.com has expanded its own offerings by launching a specialised logistics division, Ampère.
Bol.com is able to receive products from its sales partners in the morning and arrange for same-day delivery to clients because of Ampère.
Bol.com does not provide free same-day delivery like Amazon Prime, but Ahold Delhaize was able to utilise another of its Dutch businesses to establish a €1.99-per-order in-store collection service. The “Pick Up Today” service enables consumers to pick up their goods from a local Albert Heijn location on the same day if they place their order before noon.
As the biggest grocery chain in the Netherlands, Albert Heijn provides Bol.com with an easily accessible store network for its eCommerce delivery services, while Delhaize has allowed Bol.com to extend in-store collection across Belgium.
By increasing foot traffic in Albert Heijn and Delhaize shops, the collect-in-store strategy may also increase Ahold Delhaize’s revenues.
Additionally, the company is using its network of European retail locations to create extra advertising income and expand into the retail marketing arena.
Ahold Delhaize purchased a minority share in the Belgian AdTech firm Adhese last month. Adhese will collaborate with the Media Services division of Albert Heijn to bring out new digital advertising possibilities throughout Europe.
