Amazon has just opened up a fully functional store in the Netherlands, where they are selling Kindle e-readers, print books, along with goods and food items. Amazon initially launched a Netherlands store back in 2014, but only sold ebooks and distributed Prime video. Customers who wanted to buy a Kindle, had to get it somewhere else. People who bought Kindle books, and didn’t have a Kindle had a to use Kindle for PC or Kindle Cloud Reader. It finally looks like Amazon is getting serious about the Netherlands market and competing against Kobo and Bol.com.
There are three e-readers currently available and they represent the latest generation of Kindle devices. You can get the entry level Kindle with a front-lit and higher resolution screen, the waterproof Kindle Paperwhite 4 and the flagship Kindle Oasis 3 with a color temperature system. All of the models appear to be on sale by 10% to 20% off.
Amazon basically rushed out launching their Netherlands system and does not have distribution agreements with all of the major publishers for a physical catalog of hardcover and paperback books. The vast majority of the current inventory is held by 3rd party sellers and the bestseller chart is dominated by English-language titles, while even in the Kindle store over half the top 50 bestselling ebooks are English-language. I suppose overtime publishers will start letting Amazon store their books at a distribution center, but it will be likely months before this happens.
The dominant force in the Netherlands currently is Kobo and their e-commerce distributor Bol.com. This is one of the largest marketplaces that sell e-readers, tech gadgets and everything else under the sun, they are basically bigger than Amazon in the Netherlands right now. The NL is the one country where Kobo runs their unlimited subscription program, Kobo Plus.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
