Utrecht - Bol.com will open two new specialty stores next week. One shop will have everything for pets and with the other will carry a wide range of gardening- and DIY-related products. With these specialty stores, bol.com will compete with pet shops, garden centers and hardware stores. As the first online store that combines an exceptionally large range of products related to pet, gardening and DIY with rapid delivery, bol.com again takes the lead in accelerating the growth of online shopping. The convenience of buying these products online and having them delivered make it likely that bol.com will serve hundreds of thousands of customers within the first months.
Starting next week, bol.com will offer dog food, lawn mowers, drills and paint, screws, hamster cages, garden sprayers, hedge clippers and thousands of other items as part of their new range. With over 60,000 items distributed over the two specialty stores, this is the largest store opening for bol.com in recent years. The reason the shop can offer such a wide range right from the start, is that, in addition to its own range, bol.com also cooperates with other shops and specialty stores, integrating their products in the range. This will make it the biggest pet, garden and DIY store in the Benelux, as of next week.
From cat scratching post to claw hammer
Michel Schaeffer, marketing director at bol.com: "The stores we opened last year, with everything for babies, cooking and dining, and health and beauty care, have been very successful. Enabling customers to buy everything for pets, gardening and DIY online at bol.com is a logical step, based on changing consumer behavior. The online offering in these categories is currently extremely limited, while the need is great. That is the main reason for us to jump into this opportunity, not with only a few thousand popular articles but with just about everything conceivable when it comes to pets, gardening and DIY. From cat scratching post to claw hammers. “
The advantages of online shopping play a role in the expected success of the new specialty stores. "You'll never have to drag around heavy bags of cat litter or dog food: they are simply delivered to your home. Plus, you save yourself trips to the hardware store and garden center while you prepare and focus at home on the actual tasks and gardening. These are benefits that you, as a customer, only can get when shopping online. "
Everything, except live animals
In bol.com’s pet specialty store, customers will find everything for their dogs, cats, fish, rodents, birds and even reptiles and horses. Products by Hill's, Iams, Eukanuba and Whiskas are included in the assortment. Schaeffer: "Simply put, it means that we have everything, except the pets themselves. From rabbit food to dog leashes and cat litter to horse brushes. Anything you can think of; we can have it delivered to your door the next day. We are the first store to sell the complete range of many different brands. "
Everything for DIY and gardening
The new DIY and gardening shop will take bol.com to the forefront in the field of online shopping in this category . Schaeffer: "Currently the industry is still very traditional, while the customer has been eager to buy these products online for a while. Now that we will have such a large range on offer, other stores will also have to become active online. "
"DIY, like gardening, is for many a pleasant time spent, but it often takes hours of preparation before you can actually do anything. Besides the fact that bol.com saves you a drive to the hardware store and you can have everything delivered at home or at work, we provide handy checklists to get the household tasks like wallpaper or pruning done," said Schaeffer. This second specialty store includes (electric) tools, garden furniture, plumbing, wallpaper, paint and laminate from top brands like Bosch, Black & Decker, Histor, Gardena, Grohe, CanDo and Jardin.
