Market research on bol: from first idea to sourcing decision
Lars HurkmansCo-founder31 December 2025Temps de lecture 5 minutesBefore you invest in stock or a product line, you need to know whether there's demand. That sounds logical, but many sellers skip this step or do it on gut feeling. They see a product that looks good, hear from someone that it sells well, or come across it at a supplier and decide to try it. Sometimes that works. But it isn't scalable. Market research is the foundation under every product choice. The difference between choosing on gut feeling and choosing based on data is the difference between gambling and building a case.
A step-by-step plan for market research
Effective market research follows five steps that build on each other.
Step 1: Market potential. Is there demand? How big is the market? You start broad: which categories are interesting, how much revenue flows through them, and how does that develop over time? Here you filter out the categories and niches that are too small, too saturated, or too seasonal for your situation.
Step 2: Market deep-dive. Who are the players? How competitive is it? You zoom in on the niches left over from step 1. How many sellers are active? Which brands dominate? Is revenue spread across many players or concentrated among a few? Here you determine whether there's room for a new entrant.
Step 3: Differentiation. Where can you make a difference? You analyse the products that already exist, and especially the reviews. What do consumers like? What do they run into? Competitors' negative reviews are your opportunities. If consumers structurally complain about poor packaging, unclear manuals, or missing features, you know exactly where your product needs to do better.
Step 4: Launch strategy. How do you position your product? Which keywords do you need to be found for? How much do you need to sell to reach page one? What are the advertising costs to get those first sales? Here you translate your research into a concrete plan.
Step 5: Profit forecast. What are realistic margins? You do the math: purchase price, shipping costs, bol commission, advertising costs, expected returns. Only once the calculation checks out do you buy. Not before.
You go through this step-by-step plan by looking at the market from three perspectives.
Three perspectives on the market
One data source never gives you the complete picture. You need multiple angles that together form a full picture.
Categories: how big is the market? Categories give you a defined overview of markets and niches. Per category you see the total market size, the conversion rate (directly from bol), return rates, the number of active sellers, seasonal patterns and growth trends. This lets you quickly determine whether a market is interesting enough, whether it's growing or becoming saturated, and how fragmented the competition is.
Keywords: where is the demand? Keywords show how consumers search for products. Per keyword you see the monthly search volume, market value, competition indicators (how many sellers, quality score), average advertising costs and seasonality. This lets you discover where there's demand that isn't yet well served, and which niches are interesting based on search behaviour.
Products: what actually sells? At product level you see estimated sales, price development over time, the number of sellers, review scores and product specifications. Per product you can view the full visibility analysis: all the keywords and categories it's found under, including positions and advertising costs. This lets you validate whether your product choice checks out and how competitors are doing.
The power lies in the connection. From a keyword you can click straight through to the products that belong to it. From a category you zoom in on the keywords consumers use. From a product you see which niches it's active in and which keywords drive traffic. These cross-links make it possible to go through the entire research process without switching between tools.
Review analysis: finding differentiation
A step many sellers skip, but one that makes the difference. By analysing the reviews of all products for a keyword or in a category, you discover what consumers structurally run into. Those are your opportunities.
If consumers keep complaining about the same problems with a certain type of product, for example poor materials, awkward dimensions, or missing accessories, you know exactly what your product needs to do better. That's differentiation based on data, not on assumptions.
In MarktMentor you can search reviews by star rating, by text, and by pros and cons. You can do this per product, per keyword, and per category. This gives you a picture not just of what individual customers think, but of what the market as a whole experiences.
From research to decision
Market research isn't a goal in itself. It's the means to make a well-founded decision. At the end of the process you want to be able to say: there's enough demand, the competition is manageable, I know where I can differentiate, I know what it costs to launch, and the profit forecast checks out.
If one of those parts doesn't check out, it's better to keep searching than to hope it works out. The products you don't buy are just as important as the products you do buy.
Getting started with market research
Start free on YouTube. The video above is the starting point of a complete series on market research on bol: ten chapters and two example products (computer glasses and wildlife cameras) followed from start to finish. No account needed, no cost. Watch the full YouTube series
Get started yourself. Start a free 14-day trial with full access to all tools. Start free trial
See what's possible. In the documentary on TLS Commerce you follow the company behind top 50 brand Nuvance on bol, from product research to 5 million euros in revenue.
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