Amazon will invest more than 1.4 billion euros in the Dutch market over the next three years. Earlier this month, the company also announced an injection of more than 1 billion euros in Belgium. The American company aims to win over shoppers and online buyers across the Benelux region in its battle with local market leader bol.
Amazon calls it its most significant financial commitment to the Netherlands since its launch in March 2020. The investment (from 2025 up to and including 2027) will support both Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Amazon’s Dutch retail business, “supporting infrastructure development, and helping small and medium-sized businesses expand their reach to customers both in the Netherlands and internationally”.
Serving customers and businesses better
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Eva Faict, Country Manager for Amazon in the Netherlands and Belgium, states: “With these investments, we can serve our customers even better, improve our services, while also creating opportunities for local businesses to grow and further support Dutch entrepreneurs with our technology and expertise.” Dutch customers are promised lower prices, a wider selection of products, and faster, more convenient delivery options.
’Creating opportunities for local businesses’
Competition with bol
Unlike in Europe’s largest ecommerce markets, Amazon is not the market leader in the Netherlands. The local platform bol – part of retail group Ahold Delhaize – is more popular among online shoppers, according to various studies, and merchants. While Amazon currently serves around 4,500 Dutch SMEs, bol counts roughly ten times as many selling partners across the Benelux region (46,500 at the end of June this year).
Bol has ten times as many selling partners
Amazon differentiates itself from bol by offering Dutch merchants international sales opportunities. Sellers can reach shoppers in 170 countries. Three-quarters of Dutch SMEs on Amazon export to customers in other EU member states, mainly Germany and France. In addition, the American, British, and Italian markets have become top export destinations for Dutch businesses on the platform.
Amazon in Belgium
Recently, Amazon announced an investment of more than 1 billion euros in Belgium, where bol is also its main rival. Since launching Amazon.com.be in October 2022, Amazon says it has served more than a thousand Belgian businesses. In the Netherlands, Amazon launched its dedicated online store two and a half years earlier.
Third-party sales
According to Amazon, more than 60 percent of sales on Amazon.nl come from selling partners. Bol once reported similar figures for its own marketplace, but that share has recently dropped below half. Both companies offer advertising and logistics services to help their selling partners grow and reduce operational burdens. Notably, bol has also started attracting international partners, both within and, more recently, outside the European Union.
