Amazon to launch Belgian webshop

Later this year, Amazon is to open a separate webshop for Belgium. The domain name remains a problem though, as the web address amazon.be has been occupied for years.

Online market leader without online shop

E-commerce giant Amazon plans expansion into five new countries: Chile, Colombia, Nigeria and South Africa are to get their own local version in early 2023, Belgium would jump the queue with an opening this September. Business Insider reports, based on leaked internal documents, that Belgian launch is symbolically codenamed “Red Devil”, after the country’s national football team.

Belgium’s neighbours have had separate webshops for years: Dutch-speaking Belgian consumers therefore usually order from the Dutch webshop amazon.nl, while French-speaking consumers order from Amazon France. This has not prevented the Seattle-based retail giant from gaining a considerable market share: in Brussels and Wallonia, one in five parcels delivered by Bpost comes from Amazon.

Building own logistics

Amazon is also working on its logistical structure in Belgium. At the end of last year, the company announced that it would be recruiting its own independent couriers and at the end of this year, its own fulfilment centre will open in Antwerp – employing fifty warehouse workers and 200 drivers.

Although Amazon has not confirmed the news itself, the launch of a Belgian webshop is a logical next step. However, there is still a practical obstacle: the web address amazon.be is in the hands of Amazon Insurance, an insurance broker. It remains to be seen how the Americans will resolve this.

Meanwhile, there is more clarity about the international Prime Day. This year, it will last two days and will take place on 12 and 13 July.