Dutch marketplace Bol is introducing “a whole new ecosystem category”: third-party fulfillment, or 3PL for short. The market leader is looking for logistics companies that can help partner sellers with warehouse space and order fulfillment. Currently, sellers can only outsource fulfillment to Bol itself, but soon they will be able to outsource to other fulfillment companies within the network.
Bol has been providing partner retailers with logistics services for over ten years. Under the heading “Logistics via Bol”, they can send products to the platform’s warehouses and have them shipped from there. Bol is now looking to connect external service providers with its ecosystem.
3PL partnership
The 3PL’s plans were not announced in the press release, but are evident from the job opening: Bol seeks Ecosystem Partnership Manager Logistics. Primary task: “launching 3PL partnerships as additional shipping options for sales partners.” The new hire will be responsible for building strategic partnerships with third party fulfillment providers. These parties need to be more efficient so that Bol customers receive their orders much faster.
“The new employee will be looking for the best 3PL players in the market”
From the job posting: “You will be looking for the best 3PL players on the market. Who brings the most added value to our partners, our customers and us?”. The manager needs to “drive adoption” between Dutch, Belgian and international sales partners in Europe and beyond. Bol currently offers third-party logistics to around 1,000 international partners in collaboration with QLS. All 45,000 sales partners will soon be able to use third-party fulfillment partners within the ecosystem.
Delivery options for Select
Fast(er) delivery is an important priority for Bol, subject to availability. The sooner orders are delivered, the more satisfied customers will be with Bol and the business partner in question. The benefits for partners using the 3PL network are likely to be similar to the current benefits of using Logistics via Bol.
Partner sellers using the fulfillment network are likely to reap the benefits
This means that their customers get all the delivery options that are part of the Select program (free delivery and free delivery time slot selection). This also increases the likelihood of making a sale for partner sellers.
New warehouse in the Netherlands
Bol is expected to start construction on a new warehouse in Lelystad, the Netherlands, this year. In 2022, she already bought the land. Since then, Bol has grown less quickly than he had anticipated. The warehouse will be built in stages. Building a network of external fulfillment partners will further reduce the need for warehouse space for Bol.
Last mile logistics
Meanwhile, Bol is also developing its own logistics services for the last mile, between the warehouse and the customer. Its subsidiary Ampère collects parcels from partner sellers who use Sending via Bol (Verzenden via bol). In addition, Ampère has created a delivery network where smaller business partners can deliver packages.
For this purpose, companies, sellers and online stores with warehouse space serve as delivery points. Ampère takes the collected parcels to logistics centers of couriers such as PostNL or to its own logistics centers. The number of centers is increasing. Ampere itself also delivers goods to customers in selected cities in the Netherlands.