Belgium

MediaMarkt saw its marketplace revenue double in the past fiscal year. In the new year, the electronics retailer will open its virtual doors in Belgium, Poland, and Turkey. An additional expansion into new product categories is expected to attract new buyers and sellers.

More than seven out of ten Belgian consumers never (or almost never) return items that they have ordered online. This is because they only order items that they want to keep. Belgians are ordering online more often, with 40 percent of all purchases happening online.

Online marketplace Bol has launched several updates this month. One of the updates is a new advertising option that allows sellers to highlight their brand and assortment in search results. There are also changes to the partner platform and review policy.

Consumers in Belgium spent 16.3 billion euros online last year. Compared to 2022, this is an increase of almost 11 percent. The strong growth was caused by an increase in sales of online services, like package holidays.

Dutch omnichannel retailer Coolblue has generated a revenue of 2.41 billion euros last year. This was an increase of 2.5 percent compared to a year earlier. Additionally, the company doubled its earnings before interest to 88.3 million euros.

German online pet supply store Zooplus is launching its subscription program in Belgium and the Netherlands. In total, the subscription is now available in 8 markets. In the coming months, the retailer is expanding the model into 20 European markets.

In 2022, 74.8 percent of Belgian consumers shopped online. This is a higher share than the European average of 68 percent. While Belgians prefer shopping locally, when they do place cross-border orders, these are usually in other countries within the European Union.

Belgian consumers spent 7.9 billion euros online in the first half of this year. This is an increase of 9.4 percent compared to the same period last year. For the first time, more was spent on services than on products.

During the year-end holiday season, Belgian postal company Bpost will charge online sellers an extra euro to send packages. The company claims that this is to compensate additional costs during this busy period. It runs from Black Friday, this year on November 24th, until Christmas Day.

Belgian partner sellers on Dutch platform Bol.com have complained about coercive contracts and the abuse of power by the platform. The platform is said to ask for information about suppliers and a large revenue share. A member of the federal parliament has called for a hearing.

Dutch online flooring store Solza now sells its PVC, laminate and hybrid wood floors in a new Belgian online store. The company wants to strengthen its position as a leading flooring retailer in the Benelux with the expansion. A French version of the shop will be launched later this year.

HelloFresh Group has expanded its ready-to-eat brand, Factor, to the Netherlands and the Flanders region in Belgium. Other countries on the continent will follow suit. "Bringing Factor to Europe is a significant stride in HelloFresh's multi-tier brand strategy."

Nine out of ten Belgians between the ages of 18 and 70 bought something online at least once last year. At least 33 percent of Belgian consumers say that they have one online store they always use to purchase a certain product online. Another 40 percent return to the same three online stores.

Action, the discount retailer from the Netherlands, is launching its online store in Belgium. The online shop is available in Dutch and French. Action will offer around 150 products. The product range mostly consists of large items such as garden furniture.

German bicycle e-tailer Bike24 is launching in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The company already had localized online shops for Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Spain. Bike24 says the company now reaches 70 percent of the European market.