Bol.com

How do you choose a product research tool for bol?

Lars Hurkmans·Co-founder·23 February 2026·Temps de lecture 6 minutes

You don't choose a product research tool for bol on price, because it barely differs between the major tools. The difference lies in what you get for it. Assess six things: how the sales data is collected, how far the history goes back, how deep you can analyse, the market context, the guidance and the trust.

There are several tools on the market for bol sellers: MarktMentor, Rylee, Boloo, and others. At first glance they look similar. They all offer a product database, sales estimates, and a Chrome extension. But under the hood there are differences that determine how good your decisions turn out. The points that really matter are harder to compare, because you need to know what you're looking at. This article helps with that.

1. How is the sales data collected?

The data method is the foundation. Every tool that shows sales estimates collects that data its own way, because bol doesn't share exact sales figures with external parties. That method determines how accurate the estimates are and how stable they are over time.

For years the shopping cart method was the standard: reading out stock information via bol's shopping cart and deriving sales from it. After November 2024, bol took measures against bot traffic, which made this method much harder to apply. Tools that relied on it had to revise their approach. Some are still working on that.

What you can look for: does the tool show specific sales estimates or ranges? Specific estimates give you more basis to calculate with for sourcing, pricing and advertising budget. Also ask how long the tool has used its current method. If the method changed recently, historical comparability is less reliable.

MarktMentor moved away from the shopping cart method at an early stage and has since worked with its own method that wasn't affected by bol's measures. The database shows specific sales estimates per product, supplemented with trend indicators.

More on this topic: Why the shopping cart method no longer works

2. How far back does the historical data go?

Sales data becomes more valuable the more history you have. You only recognise seasonal patterns once you can compare multiple years side by side. A product that sells well in September but collapses in January, you only see if you have data that goes back far enough.

What you can look for: how much historical data is available? And is that data based on the same method? If the method changed partway through, you're comparing apples to oranges without realising it. A rise or fall in the numbers can then just as easily be the result of a method change as of a real market change.

MarktMentor has multiple years of uninterrupted historical data, collected with the same method. No gaps, no method changes. What you see today can be compared with what you saw two years ago.

More on this: Why historical data protects you against poor product choices

3. How deep can you analyse?

Most tools start with a product database: a list of products you can filter by price, category, sales, and so on. That's a good starting point, but market research requires more than filtering products.

You want to understand how big a market is. How many consumers search for a certain type of product? How fragmented is the competition? What's the conversion rate in a category? How high are the return rates? What do consumers think of the products that already exist, and where are the weaknesses you can capitalise on?

What you can look for: does the tool only offer a product database, or can you also view the market from other angles? Are those angles connected, so you can zoom from broad to specific? Can you analyse reviews to understand what consumers run into?

MarktMentor approaches the market from three connected perspectives. From categories you see market size, conversion, returns and seasonal patterns. From keywords you see search volume, competition and advertising costs. From products you see sales, price development, sellers and the full visibility analysis. Those perspectives are linked: you can click from a keyword through to the products, from a product to the keywords that drive traffic, and from a category to both products and keywords. Down to the level of individual reviews.

More on this: MarktMentor vs product trackers and organic vs combined rankings

4. Does the tool offer insight into your performance relative to the market?

Your own sales figures only tell half the story. You want to know whether you're growing, but also whether you're growing faster than the market. If your revenue stays stable but your market share drops, competitors are growing faster than you.

What you can look for: does the tool combine your own shop data with market-wide estimates? Can you see your market share per category? Is your conversion compared against a benchmark? Can you see which competitors are gaining or losing ground?

MarktMentor combines exact shop data with market-wide estimates. Per category you see your market share and its development over time. Your conversion is compared against your category's benchmark. Per product all five cost components on bol (purchase, shipping, commission, advertising, returns) are calculated automatically, so per product you know what you keep net.

5. How much guidance do you get?

A tool is useful if you know how to use it. But it's even more useful if you also understand which decisions you need to make and why. The difference between a tool and a platform is the guidance around it.

What you can look for: is there education available that goes beyond tool explanations? Are there videos, articles or webinars that cover the whole selling process? Is the content up to date or outdated?

MarktMentor offers a complete, free video series on YouTube on market research on bol (ten chapters, two example products followed from start to finish), an extensive Knowledge Base in which experts walk through the platform per topic, the MarktPraat podcast, and webinars on subjects such as sourcing, forwarding and certifications.

6. Trust

The price of the biggest product research tools for bol doesn't differ much. The difference lies in what you get for it. So look beyond the price: how long has a tool existed, how stable is the method, and is the tool recognised by bol itself?

MarktMentor is a bol Gold Partner, the highest of four partner levels. That means MarktMentor meets bol's strictest technical requirements, is recognised by bol as a relevant platform, and offers a complete range of features in market research, performance measurement and profitability.

Summary: what to watch out for

Read more:

• MarktMentor vs Rylee: the complete comparison
• Why the shopping cart method no longer works
• Why historical data protects you against poor product choices