Belgium

Ecommerce giant Amazon is opening its first logistics centre in Belgium. The location is planned for the end of this year. Amazon recently opened a site in the Netherlands and announced plans for German expansion.

Coolblue, the Dutch electronics retailer, made a revenue of 2,3 billion euros in 2021. That is 18 percent more than the year before. The profits turned out lower in the past year. This is due to investments, according to Coolblue.

Bol.com made 5,5 billion euros in online sales last year. That is 27 percent more than the year before. The platform now has 49 thousand third party retailers. Together they generate more than half of the revenue.

Belgian postal company Bpost is starting a trial today. Customers can hand over returns to the postman, instead of bringing the package to the post office. The trial will take two months and it is set to happen in several Belgian cities.

The Belgian government is considering labor market reform measures that will give ecommerce companies opportunities to work between 20:00 and midnight. It seems that the reform will meet some discussion. Chairman of the Belgian Socialist Party Paul Magnette has said in an interview that he wants Belgium to be a country without ecommerce.

The biggest online store in the Netherlands and Belgium, Bol.com, saw a growth of 15 million visitors per month on the Dutch website compared to Q3 last year. The Belgian website had 2 million extra visitors. With a steady growth of selling partners on the platform, the product range grew with 42 percent in one year.

Active Ants, an e-fulfillment company from the Netherlands, has opened its first distribution center in Belgium. The site is located in Willebroek, a town between Antwerp and Brussels. The Bpost subsidiary is now eying international expansion.

Hopr, the first online-only supermarket from Belgium, will start its activities this Monday. It will first test in the city of Hasselt, but the goal is to become available to the whole of Belgium by 2026.

Ecommerce in Belgium was worth 10.26 billion euros in 2020. That's a decrease of 10 percent compared to the situation one year before. Of course, the decline has everything to do with the coronavirus outbreak. Belgians bought far fewer services online, but ordered more products.

Budbee, a last-mile delivery startup from Sweden, will soon become available in Belgium. The logistics tech company has announced it will start in Flanders and Brussels. Later on, it will also expand to Wallonia.

Dutch fulfillment company Active Ants is growing fast. In October 2020, the company opened its second fulfillment center in the Netherlands, and the opening of two other sites are already planned. Ecommerce News Europe spoke with managing partner Jeroen Dekker about their ambitions.

This year, 72 percent of Belgians make online purchases. Of all Belgians who are active online, eight in ten have bought something online in the past year. And 94 percent say they will do so in the future.

Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt has launched its own fresh food delivery service, called Rose Mary. The service enables customers to order ready-made meals. For now, Rose Mary only serves consumers in the Brussels region.

SwipBox is partnering in Europe again. This time it's with Belgian logistics provider Bpost. The two have teamed up to launch a network of parcel lockers that are battery driven and Bluetooth enabled. The first step is a pilot project in the Belgian city of Mechelen.

Shavatar is the name of a 3D avatar tool that should lead to fewer returns in the online fashion industry. With Shavatar, consumers can create their own avatars based on a few parameters. The tool then suggests the right size and fit of any given fashion item.