Tips for selling on bol.com
Nowadays, selling on marketplaces is part of every seller’s online sales strategy. Marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay enjoy a widespread branding. The e-commerce landscape is changing in such a way that many consumers start their search for products directly on marketplaces, instead of using search engines such as Google.
When we look at the Dutch marketplaces landscape, bol.com is the largest player in the market. Over 80% of Dutch consumers start their search for products on this platform. Bol.com is a generic marketplace, which means that they have a wide variety of product categories. They currently have over 50,000 sellers on their platform, selling around 41 million products. Over 60% of the turnover on bol.com is generated by marketplace sellers.
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Such a large platform with so many products. So, what could new, foreign sellers gain from selling on bol.com? Most sellers on bol.com are based in the Netherlands or Belgium.
Why you should sell on bol.com
1. Biggest platform in Netherlands
Bol.com is the biggest marketplace platform in the Netherlands and outperforms Amazon in the Netherlands with over 8 million customers and 1,5 daily visitors. Their branding is beneficial for sellers, as they can ride along on their brand awareness.
2. Bol.com helps their sellers
Bol.com offers their sellers a lot of data which they can use to optimize their sales. For example, bol.com creates lists with white and grey spots on their platform. White spots are products that consumers are looking for on bol.com, but aren’t available in the product categories yet. This means that there is a consumer demand that is not yet fulfilled by their platform. Grey spots are products that are available on bol.com, but do not have the right proposition yet (for example high prices or long delivery times). In both cases, bol.com is looking for new or existing sellers to jump into these white and grey spots.
3. Shipping convenience (LvB)
Bol.com offers shipment via their platform: Logistics via bol. This is convenient for you as a German seller. This means that you can place your stock in bol.com’s warehouse. It also ensures that you can live up to next day delivery or even same evening delivery by bol. This is beneficiary in winning the buy box at bol.com!
4. No cure, no pay
Offering your product range on bol.com is free of charge. You only pay a commission fee when you sell a product. This commission consists of a fixed fee and a percentage of the sales price, depending on the product category. This typically ranges between 4-14%.
For example, if you sell a bicycle at a price of 400 EUR, you pay 0.83 cents plus 12.4% commission to bol.com. If you sell beauty day cream at a price of 5 EUR, you pay 0.20 cents plus 5% commission.
Challenges
As it is the largest platform in the Netherlands, it could be that some product categories are already quite saturated in terms of product offerings. This does not mean that you cannot be successful on bol.com. By using those white and grey spots lists, you can identify opportunities and tap into these opportunities with your product assortment.
What do you need to sell on bol.com?
You’ll need a Dutch VAT number. This can only be obtained by registering your company with the Dutch Tax Authorities. Without a Dutch VAT number, you cannot sell to consumers on bol.com.
How to sell successful on bol.com
Competitive prices help you sell successfully on bol.com. Items with low prices are more likely to convert in a sale. While (too) high prices negatively affect customer confidence. To avoid negative experiences, bol.com has a pricing policy. This pricing policy looks at three aspects:
- Relevant market prices: bol.com determines a relevant market price for each item. This is determined by looking at current price offers on the platform, the consumer advice price and historical pricing.
- Equal prices: this means that your sales price at bol.com should not be very different from your webshop price (taking into account shipping costs)
- Logical second-hand prices: you can also offer second hand products on bol.com. The used product should have a lower price (including shipping costs and excluding service fee) than the new item listed in the buy box.
Based on the relevant market price, bol.com gives your prices a so-called price star score. This tells you immediately if your prices are competitive or if they need some attention. Basically, you have a good price when you have 4 price stars. Does your price get 5 stars? Then your price is the best compared to the main competitors in the market.
Automating your marketplace sales
Are you interested in selling on bol.com? Then it is worthwhile to invest in marketplace automation. This means that your stock management, order processing and logistics is arranged in one centralised system. Also, you can make use of an advanced repricer, which allows you to optimize your prices for literally every situation and giving you a competitive advantage over you competitors.
Do you want more information on automating your marketplace business? Then reach out to EffectConnect, a Marketplace Integration Platform that offers seamless and flawless integrations with marketplaces across Europe. We’ve helped many brands, wholesalers, e-commerce organisations and retailers easily scaling up their business abroad by integrating all of their marketplace sales in one centralized system.
Author: Saskia Thomassen
Position: Team Lead Marketing
Linkedin Saskia
LinkedIn EffectConnect
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