Finally, your product is online and sales are skyrocketing. The success of your product has not gone unnoticed by others, and in no time, your product is also being offered by other sellers. They might offer a look-a-like of your product under the same EAN code. With this look-a-like product, they can undercut your selling price, winning the buy box and stealing your sales. Additionally, you risk potential image damage if, for example, product information is incorrect or if the quality of the other sellers is not identical to your original product.
When you've invested a lot of time and energy in developing your own brand, this is not a pleasant side effect, and you'd prefer to prevent it. Bol.com helps you with the possibility to register your brand. Curious about what brand registration entails and what it can mean for your (brand) items? Read on!
What does brand registration on bol.com entail?
It is possible to offer your product on bol.com without having a registered brand. In the brand name field, you then enter 'brandless'. In this situation, it may happen that the product you offer is also offered by multiple sellers with a different title, description, and specifications. When the product does not have brand registration, anyone can change the title and product information; bol.com gives the different sellers of the product rights to make changes. After one of the sellers submits a change, bol.com decides whether this change will ultimately be implemented on the product page. When a product does not have brand registration, the seller with the most rights can change the product information. Below is an example of a change that was rejected because bol.com chose the product information from another seller.
What requirements must you meet?
To sell your items as branded items, you must meet certain conditions. Besides the standard product information guidelines that bol.com applies to all items, as a branded item, you must meet a few additional conditions. These conditions together are called the brand guidelines. Bol.com has established these brand guidelines to protect ownership rights and to provide the consumer with the correct information. Here are the three main conditions of the brand guideline listed:
- EAN – Every item you want to sell on a marketplace must have an EAN code. You can register an EAN code with GS1 in the name of the brand owner. With an EAN code, you can prove that an item is unique and linked to your brand.
- Brand register – It is only allowed to offer a branded item that is actually registered with BOIP. It is also sufficient to have a reference to the WIPO (internationally recognized) or EUIPO (European recognized).
- Brand visibility – The brand must be displayed on the original product packaging or on the item itself. It must also be visible on at least one product image or on the product page.
Obtaining a brand registration is not easy; several steps precede it. The procedure starts with applying for a brand registration with the BOIP. After that, a legal process must be followed to finalize the brand registration. The costs for applying for a brand registration currently start at a one-time fee of 244 euros, but depending on the application, this can increase further. The brand registration is valid for a period of 10 years.
If you have already completed this process and your brand is already registered with the BOIP, you can start adding your branded products to bol.com. Our advice is to first arrange your BOIP registration before you start listing the items on bol.com. Changing products without full brand registration is only possible through the bol.com partner service.
Advantages and disadvantages
Registering your brand on bol.com, aside from the extra costs, mainly has advantages. Competitors can no longer easily offer your branded products, and when you have control over the product information of your own branded items, it cannot be changed by a third party. This ensures that your branded items are displayed in the way you envisioned, even if offered by another seller. This applies to the product description, title, specifications, and images. The advantages listed:
- Regular checks on product information are a thing of the past.
- Your brand is highlighted everywhere in the same way, making it logically, consistently, and recognizably presented.
- As a registered brand owner, bol.com can act faster in case of any problems or discussions.
- If a reseller infringes on your ownership rights by, for example, offering a look-a-like item below your selling price, you can submit a request to bol.com to take the reseller's offer offline through a Notice and Take Down (NTD) procedure.
Besides the mentioned advantages, it is important to consider that the product information you once provided for your branded items remains automatically on bol.com. This happens because the protection of the product information applies to all your branded items. It may be that you no longer sell certain products yourself, but other sellers still do; therefore, the product information must always be correct and up-to-date. Additionally, registering a brand with the BOIP costs at least 244 euros. However, brand registration is an investment that pays off in the long term.
Brand registration on Amazon
Amazon preceded bol.com in 2020 with Amazon Brand Registry. They started this to better protect brands and reduce the influence of resellers. Currently, Amazon already protects more than 500,000 brands on their platform. Additionally, we see that Amazon has been rolling out more features in recent years, which are exclusively for brand-registered sellers. Haven't arranged your brand registration on Amazon yet? You can do so here!
Conclusion
We expect similar developments (exclusive features) for brand-registered sellers on bol.com, just as we have seen with Amazon. The general expectation is that brand registrations on bol.com will become increasingly important. We certainly recommend you, as a seller on bol.com, to register your brand(s) with bol.com.
Do you have any questions about brand registration for your branded item on bol.com? Or do you want more information about what Follo can do for your company in the field of Marketplaces? Be sure to contact Follo, our specialists are happy to help you further.
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