It's close, we already speak the language and the market is growing. Belgium offers tremendous opportunities for your business.
Despite being an attractive market, Web shop owners should not lose sight of the differences in language and culture between Belgium and the Netherlands. With the right marketing strategy, entrepreneurs conquer this market full of e-commerce potential.
Language is a factor of importance in Belgium. The country is divided into roughly three language areas, namely: Dutch, French and German. To properly serve the market, it is necessary to offer at least a web shop in Dutch as well as in French.
Dutch content is not a copy/paste issue: nuance differences make or break your content. Think of information like "Our customer service is available in the afternoon. In Belgium this means: from 12:00 to 14:00. Not until 18:00, as is usual in the Netherlands.
The differences go beyond national borders. Dutch directness does not always appreciate the Belgian customer. In addition, Belgians value hierarchical structures more. The choice between tutoring or vousvoyeren is therefore of greater influence compared to the Dutch market.
Another well-known pitfall is for entrepreneurs to approach the Belgian economy as a whole, instead of distinguishing between Flanders and Wallonia. Since 2010, the Flemish economy has been growing exponentially compared to the Walloon one.
The unemployment rate in Wallonia is around 8%, while in Flanders it hovers around 4.4% in Flanders. Knowledge of these economic differences helps entrepreneurs interpret turnover figures.
Tomahawk is a premier partner of Google, making it one of the top 3% best online marketing agencies in the Netherlands.
We continuously train our specialists. They have direct access to closed betas: new features within Google Ads that have not yet been rolled out to all advertisers.
German e-commerce is growing every year and the end is not yet in sight. The vast majority of high online sales are due to Amazon. Thanks to these elements, Germany is an interesting market for crossborder expansion. At the same time, it is a competitive market in which consumers place high demands on e-commerce shops.
The United Kingdom has one of the most mature European e-commerce markets with the highest online sales in Europe. Thanks in part to enthusiastic online shopping by British consumers, e-commerce in this country is stable and stronger than ever.
I'm Roel, founder of Tomahawk. I am happy to help you from our office in Nijmegen.
