Selling On Amazon.nl – Launch Analysis Netherlands

Since 10 March 2020, over 100 million products from 30 different categories can now be purchased on the Dutch marketplace Amazon.nl. Previously, online shoppers on Amazon.nl could only purchase e-books and Kindle readers since 2014. The translation of German products into Dutch as well as the forwarding to Amazon.de products has already been taking place for several years. Amazon is thus becoming a serious competitor to the current Dutch market leader bol.com (bol.com b.v.), which had a turnover of 2.1 billion euros in 2018.

A few months earlier, Amazon had already announced that Dutch and foreign brand manufacturers and retailers could register for the launch of Amazon.nl in order to be able to start selling immediately. Until the launch, they were able to plan their logistics (stock and shipping via Amazon FBM or Amazon FBA) and enter content (images, titles, bullet points, product description, product data, search terms, A+ content).

Table of contents

• Basics Amazon.nl
• Categories and competition
• Content and SEO
• Keyword-Analysis
• A+ Content
• Brandstore
• Amazon Advertising
• Reviews
• Brand benefits

Product variety and competition for launch on Amazon.nl

The most relevant categories for Amazon and brands are already live: fashion (clothes, shoes, watches), electronics and computers, baby, kids and toys, books, music, food and drink

Well-known brands such as Bosch, Lego, Bose, Philips, Hunkemöller and Rituals already use the possibilities of Amazon.nl as a vendor for part of their portfolio. Compared to marketplaces such as Amazon.de or Amazon.co.uk, the SERP structure (i.e. the type, variety and order of products in the search results after a search query) is certainly not yet ideal for visitors. The SERPs will change noticeably due to the rapidly increasing amount of data for Amazon and the brands that will follow in the coming months.

Actual quality of product data: Content and SEO on Dutch

It seems that most brands currently still feed Amazon.nl with automatically translated product data. Furthermore, on many product pages the basic data is not maintained at all or not completely – for example, only 3 out of 5 bullet points are used, which means that visibility is lost due to missing keywords and persuasive power due to important product features. In view of the short preparation time for brand manufacturers and relevance compared to other European Amazon marketplaces, this is no surprise.

However, this shows the extremely high potential of SEO on Amazon.nl to rank from the beginning of 2020 without any expenses in advertising in top positions of the search results only with keyword optimization and to convince potential customers afterwards with attractive product descriptions in the Dutch language.

Keyword research Amazon Netherlands: Tools and Data

Amazon keyword-tools mainly use the official search suggests, because they represent Amazon customers’ product searches particularly well. Search suggestions created by human researches are not yet available on Amazon.nl.

Our tip: Use search suggests, categories and product data from the actual top dog bol.com. This Dutch marketplace has a long history of product search of native speakers that is why these data is very helpful for the Amazon keyword optimization.

The Google Keyword planner also provides helpful keyword data. The keywords found there can be enlarged with Dutch dictionaries and synonym databases.

Amazon A+ content for higher conversion rates

A+ content helps with graphic charts, texts and tables to create a more individual and attractive product listing. This marketing instrument is available right from the start of amazon.nl and already is used by several brands. As usual, the text of the A+ content is not relevant for Amazon search – it’s about the presentation of helpful information as well as the effect of the product and brand.

Amazon.nl brandstore

Brand shops are usually linked via the brand name and/or sponsored brands ads and allow the design of a shop with subpages within the Amazon Shop. This feature is not yet available on Amazon.nl.

Amazon advertising: Sponsored products, sponsored brands, sponsored display

The advertising opportunities offered through the Amazon Advertising Console (AMS) and Seller Central are not yet available on Amazon.nl. Traffic and sales are therefore carried out exclusively via organic product searches, category pages, customers also purchased (Klanten die dit item hebben gekocht, kochten ook), links of search engines such as Google, as well as external advertising (influencer, Facebook, Instagram, etc.).

Without Sponsored Brands banners and Sponsored Products ads, a SERP structure is created that has not existed on other Amazon Marketplaces for years. The organic keyword rankings are therefore (still) extremely valuable on Amazon.nl.

Amazon DSP (Programmatic Advertising with Display Ads) is not available at the moment. We are an official DSP Self Service Partner – our Amazon contact person estimates the launch of DSP Netherlands for summer 2020.

Amazon.nl reviews

Products start on Amazon.nl generally with 0 reviews. Currently, Amazon automatically transfers reviews from Amazon.com. A striking green note appears at the review with „Gepubliceerd op Amazon.com“. Due to this mechanism brands that are internationally active, especially large and well-known manufacturers have a starting advantage and directly significantly more attractive product pages.

When will EU reviews come? Within the EU marketplaces, Amazon now frequently synchronizes the reviews, so that, for example, at the launch on Amazon.fr reviews from Amazon.de are displayed. This is not yet the case for Amazon.nl.

Conclusion: Opportunities in the Netherlands with Amazon.nl

The leading marketplace in the Netherlands bol.com shows the relevance of the Dutch online market with a turnover of over 2 billion euros and over 4 million customers. Amazon will offer Dutch customers a strong shopping experience including a prime opportunity. The sales and growth potential target through targeted Amazon marketing is very high in 2020. Secure sustainable competitive advantages through a professional Amazon.nl strategy with market analysis, keyword optimization, SEO content and A+ content. If Amazon advertising is also launched in the Netherlands, your product data should already be at a high level in order to a) have a chance to get as many paid clicks as possible and b) use them as efficiently as possible.

Selling through Amazon Netherlands (Holland) could be interesting for your brand(s)? Contact us for a non-binding discussion about opportunities, strategies and hurdles. As an experienced Amazon agency we are happy to support you in the areas of Amazon sales model (Seller vs. Vendor vs. Hybrid), market analysis, creation of product pages in Dutch including Amazon SEO, development of advertising campaigns as well as monitoring and reporting via our Amazon tools.