The Netherlands vs. the world

For social networking the entire world is using Facebook or MySpace, but in the Netherlands most people use Hyves. That is logical (by now), half of the Netherlands has a  Hyves profile, so why bother getting into Facebook (unless you have international friends). But the problem is when you want to integrate social networking functionality in your own website. Facebook allows (almost) everything. Hyves has quite clear limitations. So it’s difficult to have a good social network integration for the Dutch market. Besides that, as a Dutch company, an integration with Hyves is not a real good international example*.

For shopping the entire world is using Amazon, but in the Netherlands most people use Bol. Bol targets the Dutch market (also by selling Dutch books) and I guess we feel special, because Bol is in Dutch. But when you want become an affiliate of a shop, Amazon is more interesting, since the internet is not only Dutch but worldwide. So for sites from the Netherlands… what to choose?

For online payments the entire world is using credit cards, but in the Netherlands most people use iDEAL. For some reason in the Netherlands people are more anxious about the safety of online credit card payments, so another banc payment system, directly using your internet bancing facilities, was developed and now most used. In Dutch webshops, you should implement iDEAL, but it does make the shop uninteresting for everybody outside of the Netherlands.

For second hand buying and selling the entire world is using E-bay, but in the Netherlands most people use Marktplaats. Marktplaats is specifically created for the Dutch market, but when you want to sell something your possible market is bigger on eBay. So for Dutch people wanting to sell something valuable it is difficilt to get Dutch and international bidders.

* Still Hyves is better for integration than LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a complete closed API, making any integration without assistance of LinkedIn impossible. But that’s a completely different (annoying) subject.

For social networking the entire world is using Facebook or MySpace, but in the Netherlands most people use Hyves. That is logical (by now), half of the Netherlands has a  Hyves profile, so why bother getting into Facebook (unless you have international friends). But the problem is when you want to integrate social networking functionality in your own website. Facebook allows (almost) everything. Hyves has quite clear limitations. So it’s difficult to have a good social network integration for the Dutch market. Besides that, as a Dutch company, an integration with Hyves is not a real good international example*.

For shopping the entire world is using Amazon, but in the Netherlands most people use Bol. Bol targets the Dutch market (also by selling Dutch books) and I guess we feel special, because Bol is in Dutch. But when you want become an affiliate of a shop, Amazon is more interesting, since the internet is not only Dutch but worldwide. So for sites from the Netherlands… what to choose?

For online payments the entire world is using credit cards, but in the Netherlands most people use iDEAL. For some reason in the Netherlands people are more anxious about the safety of online credit card payments, so another banc payment system, directly using your internet bancing facilities, was developed and now most used. In Dutch webshops, you should implement iDEAL, but it does make the shop uninteresting for everybody outside of the Netherlands.

For second hand buying and selling the entire world is using ebay, but in the Netherlands most people use Marktplaats. Marktplaats is specifically created for the Dutch market, but when you want to sell something your possible market is bigger on ebay. So for Dutch people wanting to sell something valuable it is difficilt to get Dutch and international bidders.

* Still Hyves is better for integration than LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a complete closed API, making any integration without assistance of LinkedIn impossible. But that’s a completely different (annoying) subject.