Belgium

Dutch online retailer Bol.com is expanding its network of pick-up points in Belgium. The Ahold Delhaize-owned company will open locations in the supermarkets of Delhaize in Flanders. Consumers in Belgium already had the option to pick up their Bol.com orders at the supermarkets of Albert Heijn.

Bpost and Zalando have experimented with in-home delivery and in-home pickup in Belgium. The two companies wanted to know whether consumers are ready to let parcel couriers in their homes while they are away. The test was successful, but there are still many hurdles to overcome.

Although 92 percent of independent traders in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium are visible online, few of them also sell their products online. Recent research shows that 46 percent of retailers not only sell offline, but also online. Retailers that don't sell online mostly say it's because of a lack of time or knowledge.

Bol.com, the biggest online retailer in the Netherlands, has finally entered the food and drink industry. The ecommerce giant now sells wine, craft beer, champagne, whisk(e)y and other liquors through its website.

German fashion retailer Edited keeps on expanding. The retail company has opened its latest online store in Belgium. The launch follows just one month after the German company opened its digital doors in the Netherlands.

Cdiscount Marketplace is busy expanding outside of France. The online marketplace now also delivers some items to Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain. This means, the 10,000 connected sellers suddenly get access to a new 200 million customer base.

Belgian postal company Bpost has raised 650 million euros. The transaction will serve to refinance the acquisition of Radial Holdings it completed in November of last year. Bpost is more and more becoming a full ecommerce logistics company.

The business-to-consumers ecommerce turnover of Belgium is still increasing, with a 12 percent year-on-year growth rate this year. This would mean ecommerce in Belgium will be worth 11.84 billion euros at the end of this year.

During the first three months of this year, 7.4 million Belgians made 23 million purchases online. While doing this, they spent 2.73 billion euros, which is an increase of 12 percent compared to the same period last year.

Five online retailers from Belgium have created a new shopping event, called Belgian Friday. According to the organizers, this day is meant as a local answer to Black Friday. Belgian Friday will take place this Friday and the discounts last until the Monday after Pentecost, which is an official holiday in many European countries.

Coolblue, a major omnichannel retailer from the Netherlands, saw its total revenues grow to 1.2 billion euros last year. That's an increase of 38 percent compared to the year before. The company's net profit increased slightly, from 8.9 million euros to 9.1 million euros.

ManoMano, a European online marketplace specialized in DIY & gardening, closed last year with a global turnover of 250 million euros, which is an increase of 180 percent compared to 2016, when the French company generated a turnover of 90 million euros. Its UK turnover doubled year-over-year.

The online stores of Coolblue, Viata and Luxury for Men have been rewarded with the Twinkle Awards. Coolblue won an award for being the best omnichannel player in Belgium, while Viata went home with an award for best pure player. Luxury for Men was rewarded with an award for best starter.

The top 10 of largest online stores in Belgium are being dominated by foreign players. The entire top five is filled with Dutch, German and American online stores. The first Belgian ecommerce company can be found on the sixth place.

Ecommerce in Belgium was worth 4.9 billion euros during the first six months of this year and the prediction is the online retail industry will surpass the 10 billion euros mark for the first time ever at the end of this year.