Parent company Ahold is giving bol.com room to grow without making a profit for the time being. This is what managing director Daniel Ropers tells De Tijd. If the etailer pays off in two years' time, Ahold will be very happy with that. "But it could also be a rational consideration to accept losses even longer," Ropers said.
Bol.com sells 10 million items, has around 6 million customers in the Netherlands and recorded sales of 900 million euros in 2015. Yet the online retailer is not yet posting a profit. Still, according to Ropers, that says little. "It is very difficult for outsiders to judge whether an internet company is doing well purely on the basis of profit. Zalando makes a profit, is it therefore doing well? Hard to say. Profit says nothing about what goes on in such a company. What if it makes economic sense to spend more than what you get in for a while, because you reap the benefits in the long run?"
Deepening the offering
In recent years, bol.com mainly focused on broadening its offering. To achieve further growth, the focus in the coming period will be on deepening the offering. It will also focus on improving 'quality, information and service'. These plans require a considerable investment in the coming years, but Ropers, who has been general manager of the chain since 2000, expects bol.com to reap the benefits in the end. "We want to do a lot, very quickly. That's why we're in the right place with Ahold, which gives us the space to do so," Ropers tells De Tijd. "And count on the chain to keep an eye on the fact that what we do will pay off one day."
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