We all know the great American chain of supermarkets known as Walmart. Many people love this franchise, and for all the right reasons, they have everything you could want and more. But is Walmart only American, or does the Netherlands also have Walmart stores? Let's find out!
The Netherlands does not have any Walmart stores. Walmart mainly has stores in the United States and Latin America. They are not represented in the Netherlands, and you won’t find many Walmart stores throughout Europe.
However, don’t panic just yet! In this article, we will take a look at the many alternatives to Walmart, and we will find out if Walmart ships products over to the Netherlands. Let’s get started!
Before we dive into the alternatives to Walmart, let’s take a step back to the original question, is there a Walmart in the Netherlands? We already know the answer to be no, but why is that? And are there any plans for Walmart to come to the Netherlands?
I already told you that there are no Walmart stores in the Netherlands, but why is that the case? The answer has everything to do with competition.
The Netherlands has a lot of large supermarket chains such as Albert Heijn or Jumbo. In the category of discount stores, Walmart would face fierce competition from stores like Lidl or Aldi.
This large amount of competition makes opening a successful Walmart in the Netherlands an incredibly costly endeavor and one that will most likely end in failure. Walmart also deals with its own distribution chain, which would be hard to work in a competitive and established environment!
Another reason is the lack of brand power that Walmart has here in the Netherlands. In the United States, Walmart is a notorious name when it comes to supermarkets. Pretty much everyone knows what it is, and naturally, that brings a lot of customers!
In the Netherlands, however, Walmart doesn’t have this incredible brand influence power.
Are there Walmarts in Europe?
Walmart has tried to open stores all over Europe. There are a few Walmart stores in the United Kingdom and in Germany, but Walmart never managed to strike it big overseas.
This is due to the factors mentioned earlier and the fact that European consumers are less focused on large quantities. They would, in general, rather choose quality over quantity, which is contrary to Walmart’s philosophy!
This is also the reason why Walmart currently doesn’t have any plans to expand its empire overseas. It is simply too much work for too little profit. Sadly, for the Walmart fans, it is unlikely that we will see any Walmart franchises in the Netherlands in the near future.
However, commercial landscapes can shift incredibly quickly, so who knows, maybe in a few years’ time, Walmart will be the biggest competitor of the most known Dutch supermarket, which is Albert Heijn!
Will there be Walmart stores in the Netherlands?
The European consumer market is notoriously difficult to break into as an outsider company. Many grocery store chains have tried and consequently failed. You need an incredibly efficient company to succeed in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.
This is due to the incredibly small profit margins compared to the relatively high running costs of grocery stores in this part of the world.
All of this combined simply doesn’t make the Netherlands, and the rest of Europe, an attractive prospect for companies like Walmart!
If Walmart doesn’t have any stores in the Netherlands, then what is the next best thing? Ordering from Walmart, of course! For Walmart fans being able to shop online in their favorite store would be a dream come true, but is this possible?
Let’s find out if Walmart ships products to the Netherlands!
Sadly, I will have to disappoint Walmart fans once more, as the company doesn’t ship to the Netherlands. Walmart doesn’t ship internationally as that would be too costly for the number of customers they have overseas.
There is simply too little overseas demand for Walmart to go through the incredible logistic troubles and expenses to set up an international supply chain.
Therefore Walmart prefers to stick to the US market, where they can use their incredible brand power and market majority to make money the easy way!
People have found ways to get around the system by having Walmart products shipped to Europe. This means that the Walmart order is shipped to a warehouse in the United States and from there can be distributed to the rest of the world, including the Netherlands.
This is not easy and certainly not cheap, so it is not recommended that you try this method for yourself! However, if you are in absolute need of a Walmart product in the Netherlands, this method could be worth looking into, but remember, it’s at your own risk!
Now we know that it will be a difficult, if not impossible, task to get Walmart products into the Netherlands since there are no stores and they do not ship internationally.
All that's left is to find alternative stores to Walmart in the Netherlands. So, let's look at some solid alternatives!
To begin with, we look at the major supermarket chains such as Albert Heijn and Jumbo. These stores are the Dutch counterpart to Walmart, but in terms of similarities, they are quite far apart.
Albert Heijn and Jumbo stores are generally a lot smaller than Walmart stores, and the product variety is a lot lower in the Netherlands. If you are looking for the bare essentials, though, these are the stores you want to go to in the Netherlands!
Another good alternative to Walmart is Sligro and Makro. These are Dutch wholesale chains, and in terms of size and product range, they come close to a real Walmart store in the Netherlands.
You can only store here if you are a member, and for that, you need your own business, so, unfortunately, this is not an option for many people.
When it comes to incredible pricing, you will be better off going to one of the Dutch discount supermarkets such as Action, Aldi, or Lidl. These come close in terms of pricing to Walmart, but their product variety and store size lie even lower than those of the big supermarket chains here in the Netherlands.
If you are looking for Walmart-specific products, such as certain types of American foods like candy, for example, you will have a hard time finding them in any Dutch supermarket.
There are, however, plenty of Dutch online stores that import these products directly from America, so that could be worth looking into if you are looking for these specific products!
So, as you can see, there are no real one-to-one alternatives to Walmart. But, any of these stores will get you what you need, though!
All in all, Walmart is unfortunately not represented at all in the Netherlands. They don't have stores here, and they don't ship products here either, for the many commercial reasons we looked at.
There are some alternatives, though, but as we’ve seen, none of them can really match the incredible size and popularity of Walmart in the United States.
I hope that this article has been able to answer any questions you may have had about Walmart in the Netherlands.