Zaandam, July 16, 2018 – Bol.com, the largest online retailer in the Benelux announces today that it plans to double the surface area of its sustainable fulfillment center, boosting warehouse capacity to support the brand’s continued rapid growth in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Facility enlarged to 100,000 square meters
The fulfillment center, located in the southern Dutch town of Waalwijk, opened in 2017 with floor space of 50,000 square meters. Constructed in a way that allowed for strong future growth. Bol.com has now realized this growth and the facility will be doubled to 100,000 square meters.
Construction will start in the first half of 2019, with the facility expected to open for use in 2021. Approximately 100 new jobs will be created, both at the fulfillment center in Waalwijk and at the bol.com office in Utrecht.
“This expansion, less than a year after opening our first fulfillment center, has enabled us – even with increasing volumes – to continue to provide great service to our customers and to our partners that sell through bol.com,” said Huub Vermeulen, Managing Director at bol.com. “In addition to providing room for further growth, it enables us to continue to innovate. After all, at bol.com we are always looking for ways to offer our customers even more choices, service and convenience.”
Both customers and partners benefit
Over the past two decades, bol.com has grown from an online book and entertainment store into a shopping platform with 9 million customers, visited more than 1 billion times a month and carrying 16 million items across a range of categories. This includes items from nearly 21,000 retailers in the Netherlands and Belgium that have sold their products through bol.com, some even outsourcing logistics to the brand. The expansion will significantly increase storage capacity for these partners, resulting in great advantages for customers. Bol.com will be able to provide even better service – including delivery within a few hours, a 30-day return period, free returns, and 24-hour customer service – for a larger portion of its online product range.
Focus on people and the environment
The fulfillment center in Waalwijk is already one of the most sustainable buildings in the Benelux, and the expansion will further integrate green, energy-friendly solutions for an optimal work climate. It is being built in accordance with BREEAM certification, with the aim of obtaining the highest possible score (i.e., outstanding) through measures such as generating energy through wind turbines, collecting and recycling rainwater, and providing special boxes for birds to nest.
To provide a great workspace, the expansion will follow the more stringent requirements that would normally apply to an office building instead of a fulfillment center. This means maintaining optimal temperatures under all weather conditions as well as providing sufficient and natural light, a constant supply of fresh air, and large, open workspaces.
Thanks to its customers, associates, and the new fulfillment center, bol.com continues to grow rapidly, on its way to doubling its capacity and revenue. The expansion is another example of how Ahold Delhaize continues to invest in its local brands and online businesses and is on track to deliver nearly €5 billion in online consumer sales by 2020.
