As of January 2020, Amazon.nl has opened to registering new sellers. Amazon.nl has been around for a while, however, it used to be limited to media products. Now, Amazon has decided to pick the Netherlands as the next market in the Amazon network.
Why the Netherlands?
Amazon.nl is a departure from the primary eCommerce platform in the Netherlands: Bol.com. Bol.com is a platform primarily made for shoppers in the Netherlands and Belgium. At the moment, the platform is by far the most popular online shopping site for the Dutch, with constant growth reaching 2.1 billion euros in revenue in 2018.
Another perk of selling on the new Amazon.nl is the fact that you can expect to get shoppers from Belgium as well. Belgium has a large language division that sort of runs straight through the middle of the country. The two major regions are the Flemish and the Walloon, respectively. The denizens of the Flemish region speak Flemish, a dialect of the Dutch language. In fact, around 60%, or 6.5 million people of the population of Belgium speak Dutch as their mother tongue.
This means you can expect that along with the pool of 17 million people, the population of the Netherlands, there is an additional 6.5 million people that are more likely to use Amazon.nl. This is certainly one of the reasons why Amazon has decided to erect another European market in the Netherlands.
New Amazon markets create new opportunities for sellers. Here are some of the advantages of selling on Amazon.nl:
Low prices of PPC clicks
Early entry in the market means less competition when it comes to bidding on keywords or PPC targets in general. Competitors that constantly bid high will run out of budget, enabling you to get those impressions and cheap clicks.
Lower bids allow you to be more aggressive with your campaigns that are targeting a broader range. Such as PT targeting campaigns that target entire sub categories, and auto campaigns.
When it comes to a new market, you can expect that there will be sudden fluctuations in the suggested bids and the number of competitors. You’ll need to keep a constant eye out and adjust accordingly.
Getting early high organic rankings and BSR
The A9 algorithm works in terms of determining organic rankings is that once a certain product has been sold from typing a certain search term for a certain number of times, it ranks higher as a search result. If it maintains that position for long enough, the listing gets an Amazon’s Choice Badge. With a new market that is only beginning to populate, it should be easy with enough concentrated PPC efforts within a relatively short period of time.
The same logic can be applied when it comes to “Amazon recommended” ranks. The same way you can rank search terms, you can rank on competitors listings. Competitor’s listings are ranked similarly to search terms. By running an auto-campaign that’s specifically targeting Complements and Substitutes you’re sure to find targets that are bringing sales to your product and in turn, becoming organically recommended for those.
Another very coveted achievement — the Amazon Bestseller Badge — becomes much more realistic in a newly forming market. Unlike the organic rankings, the “Bestseller” Badge” is achieved by simply selling more, or raising your BSR (Bestseller Rank). To be more precise, you need to be in the top 100 sellers in your department or category.
Getting this badge is much easier when facing fewer competitors in a newly developed market. Attaining this badge early will grant you a substantial advantage over current and future competitors. In a new market lacking high-review-count products, bestseller status can rocket your product to the top of your category and organic rankings.
Every niche is an emerging niche
Emerging niches show products that are on the rise both in sales and search volume. Starting in a newer market makes it easier to increase your relevancy. If you are quick enough, optimize your listings with plenty of relevant keywords, and are aggressive enough with your PPC, you may find yourself at the top of a very stable and generally popular niche.
Of course, you will be facing some top brands, possibly from the start. It’s much better to compete against them starting from an even footing. You might luck into a popular niche that doesn’t have any prominent brands in it. These can be difficult to find and represent a somewhat risky strategy, but the rewards can be lucrative.
Becoming a registered brand more easily
If you are familiar with the process of becoming a registered brand, you also know that registering a trademark is necessary in order to apply. This process can take anywhere between 6 months to a year, depending on where you are filing and particular circumstances surrounding your brand.
However, if you are already a registered brand in any EU market (meaning you’ve filed a trademark with the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office), you should be automatically viable to apply to become a registered brand on the new Dutch market. Since the EU covers the Netherlands, having a trademark filed with the proper authority EUIPO means you are all set to go.
The customization afforded to a registered product page offers a monumental benefit when compared to a standard page. Additionally, gaining access to the sponsored brands advertising system can be a major advantage in a newly forming market. Sellers use the tools provided to registered brands to establish themselves and, very often, dominate their niches. Being a registered brand, as the title would suggest, helps greatly with establishing a brand identity as you grow in the Netherlands.
A new Amazon market is coming to life right in front of us.
It’s a market with consumers that are already accustomed to shopping online, often with Amazon. The future of this new market will be shaped by the sellers that arrive first, and set up shops that are regularly visited. We don’t know how many more opportunities sellers will have. It goes without saying that Amazon will find a way to populate the new fully operational Amazon.nl quickly. We shouldn’t expect new product listings to start trickling in, Amazon can’t afford that. There will be an avalanche of new sellers and products right at the very start.
