How Medisana scaled up quickly with bol and com·create!

The Benelux countries are a logical next step for many international brands. However, success in the Netherlands and Belgium depends on more than just demand. Speed, quality, and a well-designed shopping platform are crucial. For German health brand Medisana, this difference became clear when the company, alongside its existing B2B relationship, began selling directly to end customers via bol.

What followed was rapid growth, direct sales, and a clear insight: anyone who approaches it the right way can start selling in the Benelux almost immediately, with hardly any startup time.

Medisana has been working with bol in the retail sector since 2011. In 2022, the brand entered the consumer market via the platform. This step went faster and was more successful than expected.

“Expectations were high, but reality exceeded them,” says Martijn Paas, Marketplaces Manager at Medisana. “In the first full year, we increased our turnover about fivefold.”

This growth was partly boosted by external factors like COVID and the energy crisis, which made items like thermometers and electric blankets very popular. But that doesn't explain everything. The main driver was the way the shopping platform was structured.

One of the most striking differences between bol and other shopping platforms is how fast results become visible. According to Gerdien van Vuurde, head of international partnerships at bol, this is no coincidence:

"If the foundation is solid, you can go live relatively fast with bol and generate income right away. You don't need a long startup time or high initial investments before seeing results."

However, this speed comes with one clear condition: good preparation.

“Bol sets clear quality requirements. If you don't meet them, you can quickly be taken offline again,” she says. “That's why many international retailers work together with specialized ecosystem partners such as agencies and integrators.”

International expansion is often seen as a matter of market selection or platform strategy. However, the Medisana case shows something else: successful growth rarely happens in isolation. International retailers operate within an ecosystem of various ecosystem partners:

• Marketplace agencies: for strategy, content, and performance
• Integrators: for technical connections and automation
• Logistics partner: for delivery and processing

Together, they ensure a faster and better quality start.

Van Vuurde: “International retailers often lack the capacity to set up everything locally themselves. Agencies and integrators bring precisely that local expertise. This ensures a fast start and better performance.”

Integration played a crucial role for Medisana. The company worked with com·create and the ERP system PlentyONE to automate processes. Specifically, this meant:

• Automatic order processing
• Real-time stock management
• Central control over content and pricing
• Connections with multiple shopping platforms

The result: a scalable platform that works not only for bol, but also for other shopping platforms in Europe.

"Thanks to this integration, we were able to set up a fully automated platform presence with relatively few employees," Paas explains. "Without this setup, we would have had significantly more manual work. Scaling up would then have been almost impossible."

Medisana's most important learning experience was in logistics. In the initial phase, deliveries were made from Germany, with delivery times of three to five days.

“That worked in principle, but… Dutch customers expect speed,” says Paas. “When we switched to next-day delivery, our conversion rate shot up.”

Today, Medisana works with QLS, an external 3PL partner, to serve multiple shopping platforms. This has allowed the company to grow from mere presence into a real competitor: with next-day delivery, improved conversion rates, and a logistics structure that grows along with its international ambitions.

Bol stands for quality and therefore sets high standards for retailers. These requirements relate to content quality, delivery times, and customer service. In practice, however, these requirements turn out to be a clear advantage.

Van Vuurde: “The bar is set high on purpose. That creates trust with customers. And that trust leads directly to higher conversion rates and more sales.”

Agencies play an important role in this: "Partners who start via agencies often have more control over their content, prices, and logistics right from the start. This directly affects their performance."

As Medisana grew, so did its working methods. Decisions were increasingly based on data rather than experience. Specifically, this means:

• Adjusting the product range based on performance data
• Dynamic pricing
• Targeted content optimization of item pages
• Better responses to customer questions and feedback

This data-driven approach ensures not only faster growth, but also more sustainable growth.

Paas: “Today, we focus strategically on conversion, market share in the buy box, and pricing. Based on this, we improve our offer, our content, and our promotions.”

Perhaps the most important lesson from this case study is the simplest: international expansion requires focus. And that focus is rarely on just one platform or one country.

Van Vuurde: “For most international retailers, bol is just one of many sales channels. That's why it makes sense to team up with ecosystem partners who know the local market and know what works.”

Or, as Paas puts it:

"You can try to figure out everything yourself. However, that costs a lot of time and energy. With the right ecosystem partners, scaling up is significantly faster and more efficient."

The combination of platform, ecosystem partners, and a well-executed operation makes the difference. For Medisana, this meant:

• Getting started quickly without a long startup time
• Immediate sales development
• Scalable processes
• Sustainable growth after the first few years

An approach that is relevant for many international partners.