Bol removes .com from name

Dutch webshop bol.com is dropping its internet suffix to continue as simply ‘bol‘. The name change is accompanied by a new style.

Playful

When bol.com was founded at the end of last century, the .com suffix was needed to point out it was an online store, Chief Marketing Officer Boukje Taphoorn explains. Now that is not longer felt necessary, and the Ahold Delhaize subsidiary accompanies the new name with a full rebranding. A new, more playful, style will be rolled out onto the website, the app and all other points of contact with the customer. However, the remaining packages with the old style will continue to be used until they run out, out of sustainability considerations.

Bol originally stands for Bertelsmann On-Line as it was founded in 1999 by the German media group as a pan-European web shop. While Bertelsmann was soon forced to close its branches on all other markets, the Dutch version survived and was sold to a couple of interested buyers in 2002. Ten years later, it was finally scooped up by Albert Heijn-owner Ahold.