bol.com

Lots of consumers use marketplaces like bol.com and Amazon not just to buy products, but also as a source of information:  they look for details about products, which they then buy from a physical store.

Delhaize and bol.com, both Ahold Delhaize subsidiaries, are increasingly working together. Today they have started a first commercial action together as the "Back to school" campaign kicks off, but the aim is to find more mutual benefits.

Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn is testing selling part of its product range through online market place bol.com. Both are part of the Ahold Delhaize group, which hopes that both of its subsidiaries can profit from the cooperation.

Dutch bol.com has emphasised its expansion plans for Belgium by opening a new head office in Antwerp, where current and future partners can meet. By 2021, Dutch and Belgian partners will account for more than half of all sales on the platform that is part of retail giant Ahold Delhaize.

Two of Ahold Delhaize's branches have started to work more closely together: as of today, shoppers in Antwerp can collect their bol.com orders in some Delhaize supermarkets.

Due to the shift towards home delivery, traditional supermarkets will soon be in serious trouble, Nils Van Dam of Duval Union Consulting predicts. He estimates between 30 to 40 % of supermarkets will have to close in the coming decade, due to a lack of revenue.

Ahold Delhaize has presented excellent results to end 2018: in all of its main markets (the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States) growth was achieved.