Dutch e-commerce platform Bol.com expects its strong growth to continue in the next few years, mainly thanks to its sales partners. Therefore, the capacity of the warehouses needs to double.
Three growth pillars
By the end of 2025, bol.com wants to have a total of 500,000 sq m of warehouse space. Currently, the online store uses about 250,000 sq m, spread across five locations. Three years ago, this was only 50,000 sq m, writes Emerce.
This considerable expansion is necessary to accommodate the anticipated growth. Managing Director Margaret Versteden not only wants to further expand the product range, but also expects the number of sales partners on the platform to increase explosively in the coming years, from 48,000 to 75,000. In addition, bol.com will increasingly take care of logistics services: in four years, up to 90 per cent of the partners are expected to outsource this process in exchange for a commission.
Finally, Versteden wants to generate substantially more revenue from advertising on the platform. Currently, about 30 per cent of the sales partners already pay for advertising on bol.com. According to the managing director, the turnover from these so-called retail media could increase by hundreds of millions in the coming years.
Last week, owner Ahold Delhaize announced that it wants to take part of its e-commerce platform to the stock exchange. This should generate more funds to finance the online platform’s further growth. This year, the company will realise a turnover of 5.5 billion euros. The expected gross profit will be between 150 and 170 million euros.
