The Silo Problem: Data That Doesn’t Lie – But Doesn’t Tell the Whole Truth Either

Platform-native data is not wrong – it is precise, but only within its own ecosystem. Amazon measures what happens on Amazon, Zalando measures what happens on Zalando, eBay measures what happens on eBay. The problem lies not in the quality of this data, but in its scope. Every marketplace captures a slice of business reality – namely its own slice. Anyone who mistakes that slice for the full picture is making decisions on a systematically incomplete foundation.

In practice, sellers optimise what their dashboard measures well: traffic, conversion rate, ROAS, Buy Box share. What native dashboards are far less equipped to answer is the question that actually matters: whether a SKU makes any money once all costs are accounted for, whether a campaign is generating genuine new demand or simply capturing purchases that would have happened organically anyway, and whether a channel is growing the business or just pulling volume from somewhere else.

Marketplace Universe Insight: Platform data shows what happened inside the channel – but not whether it was worth it from a business perspective.

As a multichannel platform for sellers and an integration specialist, our partner base encounters exactly this pattern every day. That is why we put together this joint overview of the most common blind spots and their consequences.

When KPIs Mislead

The KPIs that marketplaces prioritise make sense from a platform perspective – ROAS, conversion rate and Buy Box share all show what is happening inside the ecosystem. The problem lies in what they do not show.

• ROAS and margin are two different things. A campaign can post a strong ROAS and still contribute almost no profit once fees, shipping, returns and product margin are factored in.
• Conversion rate and profitability follow different logic. A price reduction typically improves the conversion rate. It can simultaneously damage margin and long-term brand positioning – the dashboard only shows the improvement, not the damage.
• And Buy Box share can grow at the expense of profitability. Aggressive price cuts win visibility and may lose money on every transaction.

The result is a systematic misunderstanding: sellers begin to equate marketplace efficiency with business success.

Marketplace Universe Insight: A campaign can perform perfectly within a platform and simultaneously direct budget towards the wrong products, channels or customer segments – without any of this showing up in a native dashboard.

When Multiple Channels Enter the Picture, Things Get Structurally Complex

For single-channel sellers, the limitations of native analytics are still manageable. But as soon as a second or third channel is added, the situation changes fundamentally. The data suddenly speaks different languages.

Every platform defines performance in its own way, with its own reporting structures, fee models and attribution rules. What counts as a “sale” on Amazon is recorded differently on Zalando. And a direct online shop maps an entirely different conversion path. The result is data that is individually correct but not mutually comparable – and conclusions that make sense within one platform’s logic but systematically mislead when applied across channels.

Marketplace Universe Insight: Selling on three channels means having three different definitions of success – unless you build a shared one yourself.

The Aha Moment: What the Data Actually Showed

A concrete example from practice, representing a pattern that repeats itself regularly:

A seller directed campaign budget towards the channel that performed best by units sold. Revenue grew , but contribution margin did not keep pace. The aha moment came when return rates were compared across channels for the first time: the supposedly best-performing channel had significantly higher return rates than all the others – a cost factor that had not been visible in any single platform dashboard.

As a result of this insight the seller shifted his budget towards a channel that had grown less strongly at the top line, but delivered considerably better profits once full cost accounting was applied. The best-performing channel in the dashboard is not necessarily the most profitable one in the business.

What Independent Multichannel Analytics Actually Changes

Independent multichannel analytics means analysing the business from a level above any individual channel. Instead of letting each marketplace define what performance means, a shared view emerges across channels, products, orders, inventory and pricing. Good multichannel-capable tools – such as the analytics product from base – bring these data sources together natively, without requiring a complex BI infrastructure to be built first.

Concretely, sellers can identify:

• Which channel is actually profitable – not just the one with the highest volume
• Which products generate revenue and which generate real profit – a distinction that platform-native reporting often blurs
• Whether a channel is creating genuine growth – or simply redirecting demand from another channel
• Whether operational issues such as fulfilment friction or inventory shortages are undermining commercial performance

Decision-making shifts from channel optimisation to business optimisation: Where should the next budget be invested? Which pricing strategy improves profit – not just conversion? Which channel is building sustainable growth?

Marketplace Universe Insight: The greatest value of independent analytics lies not in having more data, but in making visible the connections that remain structurally hidden in fragmented reporting.

Who Benefits – and Who Doesn’t

This should be said explicitly: not every seller needs independent multichannel analytics. Single-channel sellers will gain little from it. The value scales with complexity – with the number of channels, countries, SKUs and teams. The moment different people are making different decisions about the same business using different dashboards, the structural problem that independent analytics solves becomes unavoidable.

Comprehensive business analytics will always remain partly an internal task, even with the best external tools – cost structures and purchase prices are data that many companies prefer not to share with an external platform. Specialised tools can nonetheless deliver aggregated insights for the broader picture and significantly reduce the internal development effort required.

Key Learnings

• The approach is not right for everyone. The value scales with the number of channels, countries and operational complexity.
• Platform-native data is precise – but limited. What happens outside the channel remains structurally invisible.
• ROAS, conversion rate and Buy Box share measure platform efficiency, not business success. The distinction is systematically underestimated.
• Once multiple channels are in play, platform data is no longer directly comparable. Each platform speaks its own language.
• The most profitable channel is rarely the one with the highest volume. Return rates and operational costs shift the picture significantly.
• Independent multichannel analytics shifts decision-making from channel optimisation to business optimisation.

Der Beitrag Unlocking Data: Why Sellers Need Independent Multichannel Analytics erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

CEE is not Western Europe light

Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is not “Western Europe light.” Our partner, the integrator base, supports many sellers on their marketplace journey into these markets and therefore has in-depth insights. Together, we have summarized the most important findings. This is because the region follows its own structural, operational, and cultural logic. Anyone who sees CEE merely as a low-cost extension of existing Amazon strategies underestimates the dynamics of these markets.

Marketplaces often play an even more dominant role here than in Western Europe. Consumers rely on them as primary commerce infrastructure – for payments, delivery and buyer protection. At the same time, the region is not dominated by one pan-European player but by strong national market leaders with deeply rooted ecosystems. Add to this higher price sensitivity, an aggressive comparison culture, the strong relevance of parcel lockers, and an operational pace that leaves little room for slow learning curves.

The 5 Most Important Marketplaces in CEE

In many CEE countries, local heroes play a strong and often market-leading role. Many of these platforms are evolving beyond pure marketplaces into full ecosystems. Based on ECDB data, the following players rank among the most relevant in the region by total GMV 2024:

1. Allegro (Poland) – GMV €13.3bn

Poland is the largest e-commerce market in the region – and Allegro is its clear leader. With €13.3 billion in GMV, Allegro is far ahead of international competitors. For many Polish consumers, Allegro is the default entry point into online shopping.

A mature advertising system and a highly catalogue-driven structure make the platform extremely competitive. Poland therefore often functions as a “gateway to CEE.”

2. Alza.cz (Czech Republic & Slovakia) – €2.55bn

Alza is the market leader in the Czech Republic with €2.05 billion in GMV and ranks second in Slovakia with €503 million. High operational maturity, strong logistics capabilities and strong brand recognition define the platform.

Originally built as an electronics retailer, Alza continues to expand its assortment. It operates a partner/marketplace structure that allows third-party sellers to distribute products via the platform. However, this is not a pure 3P marketplace model: in many cases Alza acts as the contractual partner and manages central processes such as payments and customer service. Due to this hybrid structure, its classification as a marketplace is not always clear-cut.

3. Heureka Group (Czech Republic & Slovakia) – €2.18bn

Heureka is the central and leading platform in both the Czech Republic (€1.6 billion GMV) and Slovakia (€579 million GMV). Initially launched as a price comparison engine, it has increasingly developed into a transactional infrastructure. The platform is highly search- and performance-driven; price and availability are particularly decisive here.

4. eMAG (Romania & Bulgaria) – €1.55bn

In Romania, eMAG clearly dominates the market with €1.3 billion in GMV and is also the leading player in neighbouring Bulgaria (€249 million GMV). The model combines marketplace and retail infrastructure. eMAG invests heavily in fulfillment, logistics and regional expansion and has positioned itself as a platform ecosystem.

5. Kaufland Global Marketplace – €183m GMV (excluding Poland)

Kaufland Global Marketplace plays a special role. Originating from Germany, it has built a strong cross-border scaling model. Since 2023, the online marketplace has gradually launched in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

Although GMV remains relatively moderate due to its still young marketplace presence, Kaufland Global Marketplace is experiencing rapid growth. It can therefore be seen as a bridge between Central and Eastern Europe and the DACH region – making it attractive for Western brands, also due to Kaufland’s strong brick-and-mortar retail presence in CEE.

Success Factors and Typical Pitfalls in CEE

Operational performance matters more than brand awareness. Markets react sensitively to price and service deviations.

1.  Price as a lever: Lower purchasing power and high price transparency require competitive, dynamically managed pricing. Transferring Western European price levels 1:1 leads to margin erosion or loss of visibility.

2.  Logistics as a ranking factor: Parcel lockers and local carrier models are standard. Marketplace fulfilment programmes directly influence filterability and ranking.

3.  Service KPIs as a multiplier: Response times, cancellation rates and delivery reliability feed directly into seller ratings and placement. Operational strictness is often underestimated.

4.  Localisation: Visibility depends on structured parameters, full catalogue integration and market-specific requirements. Simply translated listings without technical adaptation cost ranking

5.  Retail media: Programmes such as Allegro Ads act as accelerators but do not compensate for structural weaknesses in pricing, logistics and service levels.

6.  Platform logic: CEE marketplaces follow their own mechanics (e.g. the “Top Offer” on Allegro). Generic Amazon strategies often fail.

Deep Dive: Allegro

Allegro is not just the market leader in Poland – it is market infrastructure. Since 1999, the platform has shaped payment habits, delivery expectations and the overall understanding of online commerce in the country. A large share of product searches starts directly on Allegro, not on Google.

The “Top Offer” – the central lever

Unlike many Western marketplaces, Allegro does not distribute visibility evenly across multiple sellers. For each product, a so-called Top Offer is highlighted – a single offer prominently displayed that captures the majority of clicks.

The Top Offer frequently appears with increased visibility in search results and is displayed as the primary purchase option on the product detail page, with price, delivery time and Smart! participation clearly highlighted.

Selection is algorithmic and based on multiple factors:

• Total price (including shipping)
• Delivery speed
• Participation in Allegro Smart!
• Conversion history
• Seller KPIs
• Offer quality and catalogue compliance
• Performance in Allegro Ads

The objective is therefore not a “Top 5 ranking” but winning this position. Whoever controls the Top Offer often controls the majority of volume within a product cluster.

Allegro Programmes in Detail

Allegro Smart!

Allegro Smart! is a subscription-based shipping and loyalty programme comparable to Prime. Customers pay a monthly or annual fee and receive free shipping above a certain order value, along with additional benefits.

For sellers, Smart! means better filterability in search results, higher conversion rates, and increased competitiveness in price-sensitive categories. Participation is also a relevant factor in winning the Top Offer. In many categories, Smart! participation is effectively a prerequisite for scaling.

Fulfilment by Allegro

Fulfilment programmes allow sellers to store inventory in local warehouses. International sellers in particular benefit from local storage, as delivery performance is a key ranking factor.

The advantages include faster delivery times, higher service levels, a positive impact on ranking, and reduced operational complexity.

Allegro Ads

Allegro Ads acts as a visibility accelerator. Ads improve placement in search results and support the fight for the Top Offer. However, ads primarily amplify existing competitiveness – without a competitive price and strong service levels, the effect is limited.

Brand Zone

The Brand Zone enables stronger differentiation within a highly performance-driven environment. It offers additional brand space, content opportunities and greater control over presentation – particularly relevant for established brands that do not want to compete solely on price.

Why Classic Amazon Strategies Often Fail on Allegro

Allegro is more catalogue-driven, more price-sensitive and more operationally strict than many Western platforms. Competition concentrates on a single winning position – the Top Offer.

Successful sellers strategically integrate pricing, shipping and Smart!, closely monitor service KPIs and rely on automation. Allegro is not an Amazon clone but an independent, performance-driven ecosystem.

Key Learnings from the Top 5 Marketplaces in CEE

CEE is not a side market. The region is driven by strong national platforms deeply embedded in local consumer habits. International strategies only work when adapted.

Poland – with Allegro – remains the structural heavyweight and often the strategic starting point. However, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia also offer relevant volumes and scaling potential.

Key Learnings:

• CEE is fragmented, not homogeneous.
• Local market leaders are structurally well protected.
• Price and delivery logic determine visibility.
• Operational excellence outweighs brand awareness.
• Allegro is not an “Amazon clone” but its own performance-driven ecosystem.

Anyone serious about CEE needs more than a copy of Western strategies – they need a dedicated marketplace logic.

Der Beitrag CEE Deep Dive: Top 5 Marketplaces Many Brands Overlook erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Price Pressure and extreme Price dynamics

Marketplaces such as Allegro, Kaufland, eBay, and eMAG are characterised by intense price pressure and extreme price dynamics. Identical products are offered by many sellers simultaneously, often with very different cost structures. In this environment, automated repricing is not optional – it is a prerequisite for competitiveness and revenue.

However, even the best tool delivers limited value if the underlying strategy is flawed. Our partner, integration specialist and solution provider base, which also offers a repricing tool, sees this every day in practice. That’s why we’ve jointly compiled the most common sticking points and mistakes in repricing. The result is a practical guide to building a robust, sustainable repricing strategy.

Understanding platform logic: not everything is Amazon

Even experienced sellers often make the mistake of applying Amazon pricing logic to other European marketplaces, despite fundamental differences in how they operate:

• Example: Allegro – Poland’s market leader operates without a classic Buy Box. Nevertheless, visibility is still strongly driven by price. When multiple sellers offer the same product, Allegro highlights a “Top oferta” (Top offer) based on criteria such as total price including shipping, delivery time, seller ratings, and similar factors.
• Example: Kaufland, eMAG, Empik
  These platforms use Buy Box-like mechanisms where the total offer price – product price plus shipping costs – is decisive.

Ignoring these differences leads to misaligned optimisation. A low product price combined with high shipping costs can significantly reduce Buy Box chances, even though the offer appears “cheap” at first glance.

What really determines Buy Box visibility

Buy Box placement is never driven by a single factor. Instead, it results from a combination of elements:

1. Total offer price (product + shipping) – usually the strongest lever
2. Delivery time and shipping method – fast delivery or marketplace fulfilment improves chances
3. Seller ratings and account quality – consistent performance in fulfilment and returns
4. Product availability – stable stock levels reduce cancellation risks
5. Advertising and marketplace programmes – can further increase visibility

Even though price carries the greatest weight, differences of just a few percentage points are often enough to decide Buy Box wins or losses when sellers offer comparable service levels.

Strategy: category beats platform

Repricing strategy should primarily be aligned with the product category, as this determines price sensitivity and the frequency of price adjustments.

Mateusz Wróbel, Product Manager Repricer at base, provides an example: “In categories such as furniture, product availability as well as delivery cost and delivery time are more important, as these are bulky items or require more complex logistics. As a result, prices do not change as frequently as in electronics or home appliance categories.”

Applying a single pricing logic across the entire assortment inevitably leads to misalignment – either too aggressive in margin-rich categories or too slow in highly competitive ones. Repricing rules must be defined by category.

Proven repricing principles

Successful repricing usually follows simple principles – what matters is consistent execution. Mateusz’s tip: “The most effective approaches are simple strategies based on a minimal price advantage. In practice, it is often enough to be slightly cheaper than competitors, while maintaining a similar level of service, to win the Buy Box or improve offer visibility.”

• Account for the total offer price
  Effective price management must focus on the total offer price: product price plus marketplace commissions, shipping and fulfilment costs, taxes, and individual minimum margins. Otherwise, visibility may come at the cost of selling below break-even.
• Small price advantage instead of price wars
  A minimal price advantage is often sufficient to win Buy Box mechanisms when service quality and ratings are comparable. Persistent undercutting only accelerates margin erosion.
• Clear definition of relevant competitors
  Optimise prices only against offers that are truly comparable in terms of shipping, service quality, and tax conditions.
• Stability over short-term maximisation
  The goal is stable visibility with protected margins – not winning every Buy Box at any price.

Guidelines and risks

Most repricing issues do not stem from automation itself, but from missing or incorrectly defined guardrails, such as weak competitor analysis or an incomplete cost model.

1. Insufficient cost logic

Since the total offer price is what counts, pricing architecture must include:

• a minimum price that covers all costs
• a minimum margin adapted to category and business model
• a price corridor that allows controlled upside reactions to market changes

2. Platform-specific risks

Overly aggressive or unnatural price jumps can trigger algorithmic limitations. On Allegro, for example, sudden price changes may temporarily block further price updates. Repricing should therefore be dynamic, but incremental.

Conclusion and key learnings

Repricing is not a “set-and-forget” mechanism — it is a continuous control instrument. Sellers should consistently monitor competitors’ total prices, their own cost structures, defined minimum prices, and current Buy Box status. Market data shows that the greatest benefits of repricing emerge where competition and comparability are highest.

Key learnings: the strategic checklist

• Repricing is a strategy, not just a tool feature
• Pricing without cost logic is risky
• Category- and platform-specific rules are essential
• Automation requires clear minimum prices and corridors
• The goal is sustainable visibility, not short-term price wars

Der Beitrag Repricing Strategy on Marketplaces: Protect Visibility, Preserve Margin erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Marketplaces in CEE: Central and Eastern Europe remain strongly growing markets with significant potential, especially in the marketplace business. But what does the marketplace landscape look like in the individual countries from Poland to Romania, from Greece to the Czech Republic? Supported by our partner Base, we have compiled the key players and highlighted where changes are taking place.

Little Amazon, a lot of Aliexpress and Temu

It is striking that Amazon plays only a minor role in Central and Eastern Europe – with the exception of Poland. There, Amazon ranks third behind the local hero Allegro and Aliexpress. Equally noteworthy: Aliexpress is strongly represented in all markets and is almost always among the top 5 marketplaces. In most countries, Temu and Shein are also strong players. In Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, Vinted is also a firmly established player in the fashion segment and unrivalled in the second-hand sector.

Significant local heroes

The region is also characterized by diverse local heroes. The Allegro Group is the undisputed market leader in its home market Poland, but it is also strong in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. eMAG is the market leader in Romania and Hungary and has a strong position in Bulgaria. Heureka – originally from the Czech Republic – is now well established in many countries, including Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Heureka has also gained a strong foothold in the Adriatic countries Slovenia and Croatia. The Turkish marketplace Trendyol is also pushing into the CEE markets and is becoming more important in the Czech Republic, Romania, and Greece.

A special case is Alza: The status of the leading Czech online store Alza is unclear and can best be described as a selective dropshipping model. Therefore, the store is not included in our overview. 

And if you’d like to dive even deeper into the exciting markets of Central and Eastern Europe, listen to our podcast episode 113. In this episode, we discuss the latest developments and unique characteristics in the Poland marketplace landscape with Marcin Czyczerski, the former CEO of CCC/Modivo. Here’s the episode “LTM 113: The Polish Marketplace Landscape – or: Why no one can get past Allegro“.

The CEE countries in detail

The GMV figures are taken from the ECDB database.

Poland: All Allegro or what?

• The dominant player is Allegro with a GMV of €12.767 billion in 2024. Key categories are electronics, fashion, household goods, and beauty & care.
• Empik is an important marketplace for books, music, and media, with a GMV of €377 million in 2024. It has expanded into categories such as lifestyle products, toys, and fashion.
• Morele – originally a retailer for electronics and household appliances – has opened up to a marketplace model and reached a GMV of €195 million in 2024.
• Modivo is a rapidly expanding fashion platform belonging to the CCC Group. GMV in 2024 was €93 million.
• Growth is also seen in Fruugo’s multi-vendor marketplace model. GMV in Poland was €17 million in 2024.
• Ceneo is a price comparison site and therefore has been excluded from the marketplace overview.

Czech Republic & Slovakia: Eureka, I found it!

• The market leader is Heureka with a GMV of €1.596 billion. Originally the largest product search engine in Central and Eastern Europe, Heureka has also entered the marketplace world. It is strong in DIY, home & living, and electronics.
• The once well-known marketplace Mall was acquired by Allegro and absorbed into the Allegro Group. In 2024, Mall in the Czech Republic still generated a GMV of €139 million.
• Aukro combines auctions and marketplace functions, with Aukro Collecting & Art (for art, collectibles, antiques) and Aukro Bazar (for electronics, household appliances, clothing, etc.). GMV in 2024 was €273 million.
• Also noteworthy are the marketplaces of Kaufland (€115 million GMV), Decathlon (€91 million GMV), and Trendyol (€73 million GMV).
• Among the newcomers, Dr. Max (beauty & care) and Sportissimo (sports) have established themselves and achieved respectable revenues. The beauty platform WeWell, on the other hand, has disappeared from the market.
• Zoot operates only a marginal marketplace business, with the vast majority of its sales coming from its own retail. For this reason, we have also excluded Zoot from the overview.

Hungary: Led by eMag

• With a GMV of €438 million, eMag is the leading marketplace. It offers a wide range of products, with key categories including electronics, household appliances, toys, fashion, and beauty.
• Pepita.hu now has 2,400 online and offline partners offering products through its marketplace. The assortment is broad, with a focus on electronics, IT, household appliances, and DIY. The platform also operates in Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, as well as in Germany and Austria.
• Allegro also acquired Mall here, which had a GMV of €18 million in 2024.
• The newcomer Fizz.hu has gained a foothold. This generalist belongs to OTP Bank, the largest local financial institution.
• Also noteworthy are Vinted (€117 million GMV) and MediaMarkt (€110 million GMV).

Romania & Bulgaria: Trendyol and Temu attack

• eMAG is the largest marketplace in Romania and dominates the market in categories such as electronics, fashion, household appliances, and toys. GMV in 2024 was €1.332 billion.
• OLX (C2C, general goods) is frequently used in Romania for buying and selling second-hand goods, from electronics to cars to real estate.
• CEL is a marketplace with around 1,800 partners and more than 1 million products, primarily in consumer electronics, household appliances/home & garden, and fashion. GMV in 2024 was €162 million.
• With its opening to marketplace operations, Vivre remains a newcomer as a platform for home décor and furniture.
• Trendyol (€223 million GMV) and Temu (€211 million GMV) are showing strong growth.
• The Heureka Group is well represented with its price comparison service Compari.ro.

Greece: No way around Skroutz

• With a GMV of €1.314 billion in 2024, Skroutz is the largest marketplace in Greece. Key categories are electronics, pet products, fashion, and groceries. The marketplace also serves countries such as Romania, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bulgaria.
• Public.gr has its roots in electronics, media, and books but has significantly diversified. Categories such as home & garden, toys, and beauty now also contribute significantly to revenues. GMV in 2024 was €224 million.
• Trendyol is also gaining ground in Greece, although its GMV of €57 million is still relatively modest.

Other countries: Croatia & Slovenia

Emerging markets also include the Adriatic countries such as Croatia and Slovenia. In Croatia, Kaufland.hr and Modivo are noteworthy. In Slovenia, the local hero is Mimovrste, a generalist, along with the hybrid marketplace Enaa. Skroutz is also known in Slovenia.

Conclusion: Key Takeaways from Central and Eastern Europe Marketplace Landscape

• Limited Amazon Presence: Amazon is minor in CEE, except for Poland, where Allegro and Aliexpress lead, highlighting the importance of regional players.
• Strong Local Marketplaces: Allegro, eMAG, Heureka, and Trendyol dominate, offering solid competition to international giants and driving regional growth.
• Second-Hand Platforms Rising: Vinted leads in second-hand fashion, especially in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, reflecting the sustainability trend.
• Diverse Market Opportunities: With newcomers like Temu, Trendyol, and Vivre, CEE offers growth potential for international brands adapting to local preferences.
• Future Growth: CEE remains a rapidly expanding region with numerous opportunities for brands to tap into emerging markets and diverse customer segments.

Do you want to compare the CEE markets with last year’s status? Check out our 2024 overview here.

Der Beitrag CEE hits different: Don’t miss these Marketplaces in Central and Eastern Europe! erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

We use our service provider portraits to introduce our sponsors in Marketplace Universe in more detail. Today, we are telling you more about the ERP provider Base (sponsored).

Who is Base?

Anyone who sells across multiple channels is familiar with the challenges this entails: Managing product data, product descriptions, inventory, logistics and returns is a highly complex task. Base offers a holistic platform that helps companies optimize operations and reduce costs through automation, as well as expand their sales to new channels. Base’s mission is simple yet ambitious: Become the global No. 1 SaaS operating system for multi-channel e-commerce businesses.

Who is behind Base?

Base, originally founded as BaseLinker, was established 18 years ago in Wrocław, Poland by Sewer Skrzypiński, who continues to lead the company as CEO. Marek Kośnik serves as the Board Member and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). General Manager DACH is Timo Gerken. In addition to its headquarters in Wrocław, Base operates in 11 other countries, including Germany, the United States, Brazil, China, and the United Kingdom, employing a global team of more than 415 people.

What does Base offer?

Base provides a SaaS platform aimed at helping eCommerce businesses optimize their operations. The platform enables businesses to:

• Automate processes: Such as order management, stock handling, and fulfillment.
• Centralize omnichannel sales: Manage multiple marketplaces, B2B, and B2C channels from a single point.
• Integrate with other systems: Including ERP solutions, for real-time data synchronization and better inventory control.

Key milestones in Base’s history

Key milestones in Base’s history include its transformation from a marketplace integration tool into a full-fledged multi-channel commerce operating system. This shift enabled the company to support complex eCommerce operations across a wide range of sales and fulfillment channels. A major turning point came with the international expansion beyond Poland in 2021 – a footprint that has grown to over 11 global locations by 2025. Another significant achievement is the rapid customer growth: from 1,000 customers in 2018 managing €10 million GMV, to over 30,000 customers in 2025 handling €400 million+ monthly GMV.

Their USP?

Base distinguishes itself through three core characteristics:

1. The platform enables significantly shorter time-to-market compared to other providers, allowing businesses to go live and scale more quickly.
2. With over 1,500 integrations and a wide range of native commerce management functions – including WMS, PIM, and OMS – it offers an unusually broad functional scope.
3. Base is designed for scalability and operational clarity: the full feature set is available out of the box, without the need for separate modules or complex pricing structures.

Looking ahead

Base.com is focusing on global expansion and supporting cross-border eCommerce in the coming year. The company aims to further extend its reach while continuing to enhance its platform’s functionality.

Who is already working with Base?

Base counts companies like Kärcher, Samsung, MediaMarktSaturn, Decathlon, Intersport, and Develey among its clients.

You can find out more here. Or feel free to reach out directly to info.de@base.com

Want to get to know Base even better? Then listen again to our podcast episode 85, in which Radek Klouda talks about a breathtaking time-to-market.

Der Beitrag Service Provider Portrait base erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.