Webshops that want to survive would do well to invest less time in search engine google and more money into building brand awareness, founder Patrick Kerssemakers of online department store Fonq.nl says.

Google is still the most important marketing channel for Dutch webshops. A good domain name and proper search engine optimalisation are still tools that work to generate traffic. With the rising dominance of Google Kerssemaker warns that a time will come where the entire first page with search result will be commercial. ‘Anyone wanting a spot in this shopping mall, will have to start paying more.’

The answer, Kerssemakers believes, is investment in brand awareness. This will make customers click on your webshop in Google despite nog being a top result or drive customers straight to your webshop. Bol.com is a perfect example of that strategy. This requires big marketing budgets though and means webshops need the backing of investors. Fonq.nl was recently acquired by RFS Holding, the company behind Wehkamp.nl.

Dutch chain of book stores Selexyz still has not got things in order financially. The company will have to reorganise activities for a second time in a few months, financial consultants Grant Thornton advise. They have studied the situation at Selexyz on orders from the board of directors, who in turn have been urged on by house banker ABN Amro.

Selexyz announced a reoganisation in May, striking 44 jobs at its stores. According to Grant Thornton the headquarter in Houten also requires a reoganisation. Ceo Mathijs van Lely does not want to comment as yet. 'There is a concept advise, which we will first discuss with the board', he says.

Designer Outlet Roermond expects to break its own record number of visitors for the year. For the first time the village with discounted branded goods expects over four million visitors. That would make the shopping center the biggest outlet center in The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and Germany.

The figures were announced at the opening of the third phase of shops for Designer Outlet Roermond, adding thirty shops to bring the total up to 150. The shopping center is now 35.000 square meters in size, exacly double the amound from the time of opening in 2001.

Burberry, with a 600 square meter store, is the most important new tennant. According to the figures released the majority of visitors are German, 36 percent are from Holland, with Belgium adding 8 percent of customers. Roermond is close to the German border.

Private equity investors 3i have acquired a majority share in Dutch retail chain Action. Under the wings of the new owner expansion in both The Netherlands and other countries will be sped up.

Gerard Deen founded the non food chain in 1993. It currently has over 250 stores in Holland, Belgium and Germany. Name, concept, company culture and efficient operation should remain intact after the takeover. Ronald van der Mark is the new ceo of Action. He previously served as board member at retail conglomerate Maxeda.

'We are very impressed by the performance by the owners of Action. Under their guardianship the chain has become one of the major retailers in Benelux. We want to help Action grow by opening up new stores in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany', Menno Antal said on behalf of 3i. The price of the sale has not been announced.

Auction house Sotheby's closes its affiliate in Amsterdam. The current staff will limit their activities to taxation and intake of new objects. Auctions involving Dutch products will now be held in the remaining houses in New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong.

The measure is part of a cost saving operation by Sotheby's and means the end for most regional auction houses. The current building in De Boelelaan in Amsterdam will be abandoned, with the company looking for more suitable housing for the remaining activities.

The real estate crisis for shopping space is deepening. In the first six months of the year 190.000 square meters of news shopping space have been added, the amound of unused space has in the same period risen by 185.000 square meters. 'In principle all new real estate has been built to add to the amound of unsold retail space. It is the first time we see something like this. The main cause is empty stores in furniture malls', Gertjan Slob of researchers Locatus has said.

According to him the difference between the growth of retail space and the amound of empty retail space has never been smaller. Last year 465.000 square meters were added, while the amound of unused space rose by 165.000. In total now 1.9 million square meters of retail space are unused, with a total of 29.6 million square meters available. This means 6.5 percent of stores in the Netherlands are not in use.

The terrible summer turns out to be a bonus for web shops. Half the stores surveyed claim turnover is up by 100 percent compared to the same period last year. Market place Marktplaats.nl, owned by Ebay also says the number of visitors is up by a big margin.

PR-agency Hyperz questioned one hundred medium sized or big webstores. Marktplaats claims the number of visitors is up 17 percent, while the number of advertised goods is up 36 percent. A spokesperson for Coolblue recognizes the results of the Hyperz-stud. 'Every rainy day influences our turnover in the same way as the heavy snow period two years ago.' The Netherlands are suffering from one of the wettest months of July in history.

Listed erotics retailer Beate Uhse has halved the losses over the first six months of the year. The business lost 3.4 million on a turnover of 73,7 million euros. The latter means a drop of 73.7 percent that can be attributed to a reorganisation that saw the number of stores drop by fifty.

Beate Uhse is the biggest erotic retailer in Europe and active in The Netherlands with the chain Christine le Duc and mail order business Pabo. The company is German, but in management and distribution there is a heavy Dutch influence. Ceo is Dutchman Serge van der Hooft.

The company is trying to change from a retailer to an internet service company. The amound of free porn available online hinders that development.

Recently deceased retail tycoon Jaap Blokker talks tough for one last time. In his contribution to the annual report of the company he attacks the high payments in companies for departing executives, calling them ‘a premium on mismanagement’.

The preface to the report is dated 27^th of May, a few weeks before he passed away. Blokker has been using the annual report for years to present in comments on developments in society as a whole. He was aware this would be his last time. ‘Age and health force to hand over the reigns to a younger generation’, he writes.

Blokker is very critical of bankers, who according to him ‘have lost all sense of reality’ when it comes to their incomes. ‘In their hunt for millions in their own pockets, they seem to have forgotten they stayed in business thanks to the tax payer’, Blokker wrote.

 

The Dutch retail sector saw turnover grow 1.4 percent in the second quarter of this year. The rise could be completely attributed to higher prices. The total volume in sales went down 1.2 percent, but prices were up 2.6 percent, Dutch statistical agency CBS have announced.

Supermarkets gained market share on specialty food shops. Supermarket turnover was up 3 percent, while other food stores saw turnover drop by 1 percent. In non-food the rising prices could not prevent another drop in sales.