The Netherlands, small market with good possibilities
The Dutch market is an interesting test market for innovative products and services for several reasons. People are open to new innovative concepts, the country is part of the EU and centrally located between France, Germany and the UK, it is a small market and English is very widely spoken.
Internet penetration and eCommerce use in Holland are among the highest in the world together with the UK and Scandinavian markets. There also is full country wide 4G telephone coverage and the smartphone is widely used. Most old economy companies are digitally transforming to te highest worldwide standards and ambitions.
Often large companies like Google and Amazon do not localize all their services for The Netherlands and start their international roll out in Germany, France or the UK, much larger markets. You do not yet find a strong local Amazon (instead there are the Dutch Bol.com and Coolblue.com) and Google voice services were revealed in Holland more than a year after the French equivalent. This mainly has to do with the Dutch language, which is only spoken in Holland, part of Belgium, Surinam and some of the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean.
Still, Holland is a very attractive market. Highly educated population, with a very high per capita income and a very densely populated country of 16 million inhabitants on a small territory which means low local logistic costs and getting quickly from A to B. Holland has a big citylike area in the center of the country called ""De Randstad" which includes the cities of Utrecht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague and a population of 8.2 million (!). Excellent infrastructure, a friendly tax infrastructure for foreign staff and profit and last but not least it can function as a hb in the middle between European largest markets France, Germany and the UK for further successful European roll out.
Main players in telecommunications are KPN, Vodafone-Ziggo and to a lesser extend T-Mobile and Tele2. American tech companies Google, Facebook and LinkedIn are as popular as in the USA. The country is a leader in European fintech development and adoption.
Beautiful beaches and nature, friendly population and fun cities like Amsterdam (and several others) make The Netherlands a very pleasant location to do business and visit.
We have helped a range of companies from Asia, Europe and the USA to enter the Dutch and surrounding markets. From market research to finding first partners, clients and staff. If you are interested to learn how we can help you, please drop Berend van Hemel an email or call +31 352055015. We can then see if it is of interest to make a tailormade business development proposal for your review. Also please visit the Market Extension homepage for more information here.
