Koen van Gelder
Team Lead E-commerce
Amazon in the Netherlands - statistics & facts
The Dutch e-commerce landscape has been a challenging environment for the global e-commerce market leader Amazon. The company officially launched its Dutch marketplace, Amazon.nl, in 2020, but it has not quite taken the Dutch market by storm. The main reason for this is that the Netherlands has its own home-grown marketplace called Bol.com. Strong domestic competition has thus far prevented Amazon from taking the top spots in e-commerce in the Netherlands, a feat that the online giant did achieve in neighboring Germany.
Amazon, the European e-commerce market leader, has yet to make its mark on the e-commerce market in the Netherlands. However, the rapid sales growth of its Dutch storefront, as well as its wider push into the Benelux area, show signs of more growth to come. The battle between Amazon and its Dutch competitors has only just begun.
Amazon’s Dutch adventure in data
Before 2020, Amazon already had a market presence in the Netherlands through its German storefront Amazon.de. At the same time, Amazon.nl has already been live since 2014, but only as a store for audiobooks. As such, net sales on the website were stuck below the 10-million U.S. dollar mark until 2020, when the Dutch store debuted with over 500 million U.S. dollars in sales. In 2023, net sales already surpassed the billion-dollar mark. Zooming in on the merchandise sold on the online marketplace, electronics are revealed to be the leading product category on the Dutch Amazon website. Together, consumer electronics and electrical appliances make up nearly 37 percent of sales. In contrast, fashion, traditionally one of the most popular e-commerce product categories, only generated 4.6 percent of sales. The full launch of Amazon.nl can be regarded in the context of a multi-faceted push into the Benelux market. This all started in 2003 when Amazon opened its main European offices in Luxembourg. Recently, the company has been opening new major fulfillment centers in the economic region, namely in Antwerp, Belgium and in Almelo, the Netherlands.Bol versus Amazon: the battle of the former online bookstores
In spite of Amazon.nl’s rapid sales growth in recent years, the online store is still far behind its chief competitor, Bol.com, in every performance metric. When we look at overall revenue, Bol.com generated roughly 4.3 billion euros in 2023, compared to roughly 1.2 billion for Amazon. This translates to a 17 percent market share for Bol.com, versus eight percent for Amazon. Finally, when looking at Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), i.e. the combined value of all products sold on a marketplace, Bol.com edges its rival Amazon with a GMV gap of 800 million U.S. dollars.Amazon, the European e-commerce market leader, has yet to make its mark on the e-commerce market in the Netherlands. However, the rapid sales growth of its Dutch storefront, as well as its wider push into the Benelux area, show signs of more growth to come. The battle between Amazon and its Dutch competitors has only just begun.
