How Belgian consumers shop online

 

 

Belgium is currently the 29th largest eCommerce market in the world with a revenue of $9,471.6 million per year. With a 10% annual growth, this number is predicted to reach $13,866.3 by 2027.

 

According to a recent study, 8.5 million Belgians have shopped online in 2022. Considering that Belgium has a population of 11,7 million, it seems that e-Commerce has won over the overwhelming majority of the country.

 

The five most popular product categories amongst Belgian online shoppers are fashion (32.7%), electronics and media (23%), furniture and appliances (18.4%), food and personal care (14.8%), as well as toys, hobby and DIY products (11%).

 

 

Most popular online marketplaces in Belgium

According to a recent report published by Comeos, Amazon and Bol.com seem to be the most popular e-Commerce platforms, with 50% of online shoppers regularly purchasing products from these marketplaces.

 

 

Screenshot of the homepage of bol.com

 

 

The top most visited platforms are Bol.com, Amazon.fr, Aliexpress, Lidl.be and Coolblue.be. The first three are general marketplaces selling almost every product category while Lidl mainly sells food as well as household items and Coolblue offers electronics.

 

Find out all about the most popular online marketplaces in Europe

 

There are several reasons why Belgian shoppers always return to the same marketplaces. A large product range, competitive prices and free delivery are all very important. Also, if a consumer buys a product on a regular basis, they tend to return to the same marketplace and repeat the previous purchase instead of looking for a new deal somewhere else.

 

These are all very important considerations you have to remember when choosing an online outlet for your products. While offering them on a large marketplace such as the ones listed above certainly means you may widen your reach, it also comes with a significant challenge. Namely: you have no control over the way your products are presented on the marketplace.

 

Appearing besides low quality products, fakes, and lookalikes can diminish your product’s standing in the eyes of customers. Besides cluttering the space and preventing them to even spot your brand, seeing your originals next to bad quality products can damage your carefully crafted reputation.

 

Don’t worry, you don’t have to give all the control to online marketplaces. globaleyez’s clean marketplaces solution removes all the IP infringing listings from around your genuine branded products, ensuring a flawless marketplace presence for your brand.

 

 

A Belgian e-Commerce journey

When looking for new products, 22% of Belgian consumers start on Google or Bing. 15% go directly to a large online marketplace and search there, while 11% take a look at various online stores. Interestingly, a considerable amount of people, 25% start their journey in physical stores and only go online in a later phase of their search.

 

Learn all the benefits of the omnichannel approach!

 

This leads us to another danger your brand faces online: grey markets. Genuine products available outside of your regular distribution channels erode your prices and cause serious trust issues amongst your authorised distributors - not to mention your customers.

 

Luckily, globaleyez’s grey market solution detects and dismantles grey market structures that harm your brand and distort your reputation. This way, you can prevent unfair competition generated by your own illicitly sold products and ensure fair conditions for your authorised sellers.

 

 

Related topics

Popular online marketplaces from around the globe - Europe

 

Major consumer behaviour trends for 2023

 

Amazon simplifies international trade for its sellers

 

 

How to choose the best online marketplace for your brand

It seems that Belgians are faithful when it comes to repeated product purchases, at least if they’d had a good experience the first time around. 50% of them don’t even consider a different online platform when buying a product they’ve purchased before.

 

Another reason why Belgians are reluctant to try new online stores is too much admin. Curiously, Belgians seem to be averse to creating an account at a new online store. 34% of respondents to Comeos’ survey claimed to abandon their shopping cart if they discover they’re required to create an account before making a purchase at a new online store.

 

 

Picture of a woman working with a smartphone, a digital key generator and a laptop

 

 

This means that your brand basically has one shot to connect with the majority of your Belgian target audience online. Show up on their preferred online marketplace and you have a chance to gain new customers. Offer your products on another one and they may never even encounter your brand on the internet.

 

But how to choose the perfect online marketplace? Well, that really depends on your brand and your target audience. Before entering the market, you need to know which marketplaces your target audience frequents. globaleyez’s marketplace sales tracking gives you just that, and more.

 

With our service you’ll get invaluable insights into the behaviour of your chosen target market, including most important trends, best selling products, most successful sellers and much more. This way you get all the ingredients for a successful market entry and start building your brand’s presence in your chosen location.

 

 

Conclusion

At the heart of Europe and with a digitally active population, Belgium is a great e-Commerce market for brands.

 

But entering a new market requires a lot of information that may be hard to come by alone. Let globaleyez assist you with that! Contact us if you’d like to learn more about what we can do to ease your market entry to Belgium or any other market in the world.