bol.com

E-commerce continues its double-figure growth in Europe: online turnover this year is expected to climb 13 % to 621 billion euros as many people's fear to buy online is clearly evaporating.

Belgium has always been very keen on cross-border e-commerce, but a report now reveals that all of the ten biggest web shops in the country are in foreign hands.

The big platforms are growing in might and are able to gain control over the Dutch and Belgian online retail as well. Non-food retail now finds itself on the eve of a new battle, ING writes in a new report.

Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize is homing in on e-commerce: the chain partners with its online sibling Bol.com and makes it possible for affiliated entrepreneurs to offer their own webshop.

Ahold Delhaize is hoping to profit from e-commerce in the near future, but today gaining a larger share of the market is more important, says CEO Frans Muller. In the United States, the Belgo-Dutch group also intends to grow through acquisitions.

Dutch e-tail platform Bol.com takes another step into food deliveries: it has decided to start offering a selection of alcoholic beverages. The Ahold Delhaize subsidiary will not create an own alcoholic selection however, but rather give a platform to specialised retailers like Gall&Gall and Belgian Beer Factory.

Ahold Delhaize's turnover suffers from a tough American market, but the merger company saw more positive results in its home markets Belgium and the Netherlands. Online growth is a highlight in the company's results.