Amazon’s growth continues, according to the most recent quarterly figures. In the Netherlands too. Since this month, a building with Amazon logos has been standing under the smoke of Schiphol. It is the company’s first delivery center here and a sign that Amazon is taking more and more steps in the Dutch web store market.
“If you want to grow in a market, you need logistics facilities,” says retail expert Kitty Koelemeijer of Nyenrode University. “This is part of their growth strategy. They have patience and in the meantime they are growing steadily.”
Amazon’s growth means additional competition for online stores. Nevertheless, the sector organization Thuiswinkel.org is not concerned about this. “The e-commerce pie is incredibly large, Amazon can very well coexist with Dutch players,” says director Marlene ten Ham.
The fact that consumers are increasingly buying online will also lead to concerns among some brick-and-mortar retailers, who have had a tough period in any case due to the corona crisis.
Although Amazon has been active in neighboring Germany since 1998, it took until early 2020 before the company also wanted to expand seriously in the Netherlands. Since then it has been possible for stores to sell their own products via the platform of the online retailer.
Amazon entered the German market when it was still in its infancy. “As a result, the company was able to quickly become dominant there. In countries where there are more competitors, it is more difficult,” says Koelemeijer
Number 2
Nevertheless, Amazon has been doing well in the Dutch market so far, says Soebhaash Dihal, who follows the e-commerce sector at PwC. “If you look at website visits, Amazon is already equal to Wehkamp and Coolblue. Although bol.com is clearly the largest.” Visitors do not equal sales, but Dihal also sees that the brand awareness of the company has increased enormously.
Amazon is number two in the Dutch market based on estimated visitor numbers:
Web shops need to look at how they are going to compete, says de Dihal. “Are they targeting a unique offering, merchant platform, service, specialized services, or price?”
Amazon distinguishes itself through Prime: the ‘binder’ that gives customers all kinds of extra options. From series, to games and a storage service. “That way it competes with game services from Microsoft and Google, but also with Netflix and Disney+,” says Dihal.
Dihal also mentions Amazon’s range of smart speakers that work with the virtual assistant Alexa, although he does not yet speak Dutch. “This gives the company even more insight into consumer behavior.”
Concerns of the union
Earlier this month, the arrival of the delivery center led to concerns at the trade union FNV. “Amazon is doing everything it can to keep the union out,” said director Michiel Al. “They turn their noses at our system of agreements between employers and employees. That is a concern.”
The FNV fears practices it hears from fellow unions abroad, it wrote in a letter to Amazon in mid-July. “From inability to go to the toilet to excessive workload, from digital employee tracking to a deliberate policy to keep unions out.”
Amazon itself defends itself against all criticism. “We already offer many things they ask for,” spokesperson Stephan Eichenseher responds to the letter. “Employees receive a good salary. We provide safe working conditions and employees get career opportunities.”
A recurring story is that employees have little time for a sanitary stop. Eichenseher also contradicts that. “Just repeating stories doesn’t make them true. I counted the number of toilets built in us at Schiphol; every corner has a toilet. It’s just ridiculous to talk about these stories.”