Kaufland Global Marketplace Launches in Spain and the Netherlands — What Sellers Need to Know

At the ecd by Kaufland conference in June 2026, Kaufland Global Marketplace CEO Gerald Schönbucher announced the platform’s next two country launches live on stage. Spain and the Netherlands are joining the Kaufland network, bringing the total to nine markets. B2B onboarding for both storefronts opened on 11 June 2026; B2C launch is planned for late summer 2026.

“When we launched Kaufland Global Marketplace, we had a clear vision — to build a true, powerful European alternative to the global e-commerce giants. A marketplace network from Europe – for Europe.”
Gerald Schönbucher, CEO, Kaufland Global Marketplace

With nine markets and 220 million potential customers accessible through a single registration, the network has reached a scale that warrants a closer look — both at what the new markets offer and at what the 2025 data from earlier launches actually shows. We covered the platform’s 7-step internationalisation model in depth last year. Now, a year later, the outlook on Kaufland’s internationalisation strategy is clearer – and backed up with more data.

Two Markets, Two Different Profiles

Spain and the Netherlands are not interchangeable additions. The market data reflects meaningfully different profiles in terms of size, maturity, and growth trajectory.

Spain

• Population: 49.5 million
• E-commerce market volume: €38 billion
• Online shoppers: 35.2 million
• Projected growth: +25.4% (Source: Statista, June 2026)

Netherlands

• Population: 18.4 million
• E-commerce market volume: €35 billion
• Online shoppers: 15.5 million
• Projected growth: +18.2% (Source: Statista, June 2026)

Spain is the larger market in raw shopper numbers, with projected growth that still has significant headroom. The Netherlands is smaller in population but is one of Europe’s most e-commerce-mature markets — with a market volume nearly as large as Spain’s despite having a third of the population. The spending-per-shopper dynamic is meaningfully different, which sellers will want to factor into their pricing and product mix decisions.

Kaufland does not operate physical retail stores in either country. Austria, France, and Italy demonstrate that offline presence is not a prerequisite — each of those markets is performing well on the basis of the online marketplace alone.

Onboarding in 5 Steps — What Has and Has Not Changed

The core onboarding process is unchanged from 2025. Sellers already active on any Kaufland storefront can activate a new market in five steps and approximately 30 minutes, using the same multi-marketplace portal they already work in:

1. Enter tax information
2. Automatically translate and transfer legal texts
3. Mirror shipping settings to the new channel automatically
4. Select a returns address
5. Automatically translate and list product data

The complete step-by-step guide with dashboard screenshots is available on the Kaufland Seller University.

Two services have been added in 2026 that are particularly relevant for sellers entering markets with unfamiliar regulatory environments:

• Ailora: an AI assistant integrated directly into the Seller Portal, for real-time support alongside the existing human seller support team.
• EPR Management by Kaufland: a managed service that handles Extended Producer Responsibility registration on behalf of sellers. Given the country-specific requirements in Spain and the Netherlands (see below), this is worth looking at before going live.

“Activating additional storefronts is straightforward and doesn’t take long. From onboarding to the first sale usually took only about two days. The automated ticket translation tool and the price adjustment tool for different currencies have been particularly useful for us.”

Thomas Hock, Head of E-Commerce, Nesatec

Country-Specific Requirements: EPR at a Glance

Both new markets carry specific EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) obligations. These are not unique to Kaufland — they apply to all sellers in these markets — but the registration routes differ by country and need to be sorted before going live.

Netherlands

• Registration for the relevant EPR category with the applicable PRO (Producer Responsibility Organisation) for each product type.

Spain

• Packaging: registration with the Packaging Register RPP at MITECO
• WEEE (electrical and electronic equipment): category-specific registration with RII-AEE
• Batteries: registration with RII-PYA
• Non-Spanish sellers: registration must be completed through an authorised representative

Full requirements per country are documented on the Kaufland Seller University. Sellers who want to delegate the registration process can use the EPR Management by Kaufland service.

Performance Signals from the 2025 Launches

Spain and the Netherlands are not the first markets Kaufland Global Marketplace has entered without a physical retail footprint. France, Italy, Poland, and Austria all went live in 2025. The data from that cohort is now available — and it gives a more grounded picture of what expansion on this platform actually looks like in practice.

Key figures from fiscal year 2025 (source: Kaufland Global Marketplace):

Overall GMV growth across all Kaufland marketplace countries: +11.9% year-on-year

• International business GMV growth: +124% year-on-year
• Kaufland.de: GMV +4% year-on-year
• Kaufland.pl: GMV +322% year-on-year
• Kaufland.at: GMV +439% year-on-year; brand awareness in Austria up 16 percentage points — one in two Austrians now recognises the marketplace
• Kaufland.cz: GMV +21% year-on-year
• Kaufland.sk: GMV +10% year-on-year
• Kaufland.fr and Kaufland.it: seller base grew by 25% within two months of launch; each surpassed 5,000 active sellers

The Poland and Austria percentages are eye-catching, and they reflect in part the mathematics of a newer market growing off a smaller base. The more structurally significant signal is the seller adoption pace in France and Italy: 5,000 active sellers per market within two months indicates that sellers already in the Kaufland ecosystem are choosing to activate new storefronts at scale — and the friction is low enough for them to do so.

“The international storefronts are already generating 160% of the GMV I achieve on Kaufland.de.”
Patryk Heppding-Gonsior, Head of Marketplace Management, wiltec

Top Categories by Revenue

Gardening & DIY and Homeware & Furniture appear in the top three across every Kaufland international storefront — without exception. Electronics & Computers leads in Germany and Poland. Kitchen & Household rounds out the top three in Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. For sellers in these categories, demonstrated cross-market demand already exists across the network.

Category breakdown by storefront (source: Kaufland Global Marketplace):

• Kaufland.at: 1. Gardening & DIY  2. Homeware & Furniture  3. Electronics & Computers
• Kaufland.de: 1. Electronics & Computers  2. Gardening & DIY  3. Homeware & Furniture
• Kaufland.fr: 1. Gardening & DIY  2. Homeware & Furniture  3. Electronics & Computers
• Kaufland.it: 1. Gardening & DIY  2. Homeware & Furniture  3. Kitchen & Household
• Kaufland.pl: 1. Electronics & Computers  2. Gardening & DIY  3. Homeware & Furniture
• Kaufland.cz: 1. Gardening & DIY  2. Homeware & Furniture  3. Kitchen & Household
• Kaufland.sk: 1. Gardening & DIY  2. Homeware & Furniture  3. Kitchen & Household

Nine Markets, One Portal

The network that started with Kaufland.de now spans nine European countries. The single-portal, single-registration model that we described in detail last year [LINK: marketplace-universe.com/how-to-sell-international-on-kaufland-global-marketplace/] has not changed — but the scale it gives sellers access to has. Across all storefronts combined, the network currently lists 45 million products from more than 15,000 sellers.

“This step makes Kaufland Global Marketplace the biggest marketplace network from Europe. For our sellers, this means easy access to nine marketplaces with one registration, 220 million potential customers, and over 6,400 product categories — all managed via one single portal.”
Gerald Schönbucher, CEO, Kaufland Global Marketplace

For sellers weighing whether to activate Spain and the Netherlands: the decision is operationally lighter than it might appear. Onboarding runs through the same portal and the same five-step process used for every other Kaufland storefront. The incremental cost is the 30 minutes per market and the EPR registration steps specific to each country. The incremental reach is 50.7 million additional online shoppers.

Key Learnings

• Spain and the Netherlands are open for B2B onboarding from 11 June 2026. B2C launch follows in late summer 2026.
• Spain: 35.2 million online shoppers, €38 billion market volume, +25.4% projected growth. Netherlands: 15.5 million online shoppers, €35 billion market volume, +18.2% projected growth (Statista, June 2026).
• Sellers already active on any Kaufland storefront can onboard either new market in 5 steps and approximately 30 minutes.
• EPR registration is required in both new markets before going live. Country-specific routes differ — Spain has three separate registries; non-Spanish sellers need an authorised representative. Kaufland’s EPR Management service can handle this.
• 2025 performance data: overall network GMV +11.9%; international business GMV +124%; Kaufland.de GMV +4%; France and Italy each reached 5,000+ active sellers within two months of launch.
• Gardening & DIY and Homeware & Furniture are top-revenue categories across all Kaufland international storefronts. Electronics & Computers leads in Germany and Poland.
• The network currently lists 45 million products from more than 15,000 sellers across all storefronts.

Kaufland Global Marketplace is the international arm of the Kaufland marketplace network, enabling sellers to reach shoppers across nine European countries through a single seller portal. Seller registration and further information: kauflandglobalmarketplace.com

Der Beitrag Internationalisation on Kaufland Global Marketplace erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

From a German setup to European expansion

Handyhuellen.de has been active on Kaufland Germany since 2019. For the smartphone accessories specialist, the marketplace had long ceased to be a test channel and had become a solid foundation for further growth. When Kaufland expanded its marketplace presence across Europe, Handyhuellen.de faced an obvious question: How quickly could the existing German setup be transferred to additional countries?

The basis was already in place: Handyhuellen.de had been working with the integrator ChannelEngine for some time. Product data, mapping, pricing logic, stock, and content were already connected. That became the lever for the rollout into the six additional Kaufland regions Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, France, and Italy.

“We were able to simply reuse our existing setup and quickly activate new markets without adding operational complexity or additional resources. That made scaling across several regions much easier than we had expected.” – Krijn Twigt, Business Development Manager at handyhuellen.de

The challenge: Internationalising without operational fragmentation

Cross-border marketplace expansion quickly creates complexity: localised content, translations, consistent pricing and stock, VAT questions, regulatory requirements, and logistics processes all have to work across several countries.

For Handyhuellen.de, it was therefore crucial not to treat expansion as a series of separate country projects. This is where ChannelEngine and Kaufland Global Marketplace complemented each other:

• ChannelEngine provided single mapping, automation, and central management of pricing, stock, and content processes.
• Kaufland provided the country marketplaces, regional reach, and translation support.
• One particular feature of the Kaufland setup also helped: sellers can manage all seven country marketplaces through one account.
• Logistics and compliance remained lean: centralised fulfilment from the Dutch warehouse and a single VAT setup via EU OSS.

The key lever was single mapping. Because the products for Germany were already mapped in ChannelEngine, they could be used as the basis for the additional Kaufland markets. Kaufland handled the translations for the individual regions, while ChannelEngine enabled targeted adjustments, for example for images containing localised text.

This meant Handyhuellen.de did not have to rebuild listings market by market, while still being able to adapt its brand presentation.

“Handyhuellen.de is an excellent example of how sellers can unlock the full potential of cross-border expansion through Kaufland Global Marketplace. By combining Kaufland’s customer reach with ChannelEngine’s automation and centralised management, sellers can expand quickly into new markets while maintaining efficiency and control across regions. This setup gives sellers a scalable and agile way to accelerate their European growth.” – Matthias Kluth, Teamlead Sales DACH at Kaufland Global Marketplace

Two hours per market: When expansion becomes a process

Building on this foundation, Handyhuellen.de was able to activate new Kaufland regions very quickly. In individual markets, the technical setup took only around two hours. This allowed around 20,000 SKUs to be rolled out across several international markets without rebuilding the operational logic each time.

“ChannelEngine gave us one central control point for all Kaufland regions. We maintained full oversight of pricing, stock, and content while expanding across Europe. Centralised logistics and a single VAT setup also removed much of the typical friction of cross-border expansion. That allowed us to focus on scaling performance with control and efficiency.” – Krijn Twigt, Business Development Manager at handyhuellen.de

Italy shows the momentum of new markets

The expansion quickly developed positively for Handyhuellen.de – and, according to the company, was in line with the forecasts provided by Kaufland’s account manager.

“Within the first year, the new Kaufland markets generated around 50% of Germany’s sales volume. That confirmed that our expansion model works. With ChannelEngine, scaling across regions is no longer a complex project. It becomes a structured and repeatable process.” – Krijn Twigt, Business Development Manager at handyhuellen.de

Italy turned out to be a particular highlight: together with France, it was the most recent market to be added and has already become the strongest Kaufland market after Germany – even though Kaufland has only been active with its marketplace in Italy since September 2025.

For Handyhuellen.de, these data points are now more than just sales signals. Performance across the individual regions feeds into the broader e-commerce roadmap and helps assess where further investment may make sense, including potential future webshop launches.

Conclusion: Scaling starts before the next market

The Handyhuellen.de case shows that European marketplace expansion becomes most efficient when existing structures can grow with the business. ChannelEngine played the central role as the integration and automation layer. Kaufland complemented this operational basis with country marketplaces, translation support, and regional demand.

This turned a successful German setup into a scalable European model – not without operational work, but without having to rebuild each country from scratch.

Key Learnings

• Marketplace data is becoming strategic. It not only reveals sales potential, but also helps guide further e-commerce investment.
• The numbers show how strongly the setup scaled: Handyhuellen.de rolled out around 20,000 SKUs across all seven Kaufland regions; individual markets could be technically activated in around two hours, and the new countries generated around 50% of Germany’s sales volume within the first year.
• Single mapping accelerates internationalisation. Once product data is cleanly set up, new markets can be activated much faster.
• Marketplace reach needs operational scalability. Growth only becomes efficient when content, pricing, stock, VAT, and logistics work together.
• Young markets can become relevant quickly. Italy has already become Handyhuellen.de’s second-strongest Kaufland market after Germany.

Der Beitrag Best Practice: How Handyhuellen.de scaled into seven Kaufland markets erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

What “quick success” really means on the Kaufland Marketplaces

“Quick success” is often misunderstood in the context of marketplaces. A fast start is not the same as sustainable success.

On the Kaufland marketplaces, three levels can be distinguished:

• Time-to-first-sale: First sales can happen quickly – as in the case of Schuhhaus Hittcher, within just two days
• Initial traction: Visibility, traffic, and first conversions
• Scalable growth: Expansion across multiple countries and assortments

Operational access is low-threshold: registration, onboarding, and even expansion into additional countries can be done with relatively little effort.

The real bottleneck, however, is not the entry – but the execution that follows.

Hack #1: Start broad – but refine quickly

Kaufland Global Marketplaces offers access to around 6,400 product categories. It therefore makes sense to start with a broader assortment initially in order to test demand.

The key point: Breadth is only the first step – not the strategy.

Successful sellers:

• use reports such as competitive benchmarking
• quickly identify high-performing SKUs
• clean up their assortment early

Those who simply “list everything” risk low visibility, weak conversion and unnecessary operational complexity.

Hack #2: The BuyBox decides – and so does pricing

As on almost all marketplaces, the same applies on the Kaufland marketplaces: Without competitive pricing, there are no sales.

The BuyBox is primarily determined by:

• total price (including shipping)
• delivery time
• seller performance

With features like Smart Pricing and Smart Pricing Plus, prices can be automatically adjusted to the competitive landscape.

According to Kaufland Global Marketplace-data, sellers using Smart Pricing Plus achieve on average up to 28% higher revenue. This figure is based on an analysis of more than 3,384 sellers over a six-month period, comparing performance before and after activating the tool.

Important: The actual impact depends heavily on category, competition, and demand. Smart Pricing is therefore not a guaranteed growth driver – but a key lever to remain competitive in the first place.

Hack #3: Visibility is not random – it can be controlled

Organic visibility does not happen automatically. Especially at the beginning, Sponsored Ads are a key lever.

Real-world data from specific seller cases shows:

• Sellers such as Songmics and eazzzy mattress toppers achieved around 169% more traffic and nearly 70% revenue growth through Sponsored Product Ads
• The seller Genius achieved 61% more traffic on the product detail page through targeted campaigns
• In the Electronics & Computers category, the average ROAS is around 1,100% on Kaufland.de (April 2025 to March 2026)

The figures are based on selected seller cases and platform analyses and cannot be generalized across all categories. However, these results demonstrate the potential and require active campaign management and competitive offers.

Sponsored Product Ads (SPA) are therefore less a scaling tool and more a visibility accelerator for market entry.

Hack #4: Pricing and Ads only work together

A common mistake: sellers treat pricing and advertising separately.

Individual seller cases show that traffic can be significantly increased through targeted campaigns.
However, whether this translates into revenue (e.g. nearly 70% growth for Songmics and eazzzy) depends directly on whether the offer is competitive – especially in terms of price.

This confirms a core dynamic:

• Ads drive demand
• Pricing determines monetization

Without competitive pricing ad spend is wasted, without ads even strong offers remain invisible. The combination of both is the real growth driver.

Hack #5: Think international early – but act selectively

A key advantage of Kaufland Global Marketplace is the ease of expanding into multiple European markets.

Sellers can:

• launch in multiple countries within around 2.5 hours
• use automated translations
•  outsource payment processing and parts of customer support

This significantly lowers entry barriers. At the same time: Internationalization amplifies existing performance – it does not replace it.

Recommendation: Identify what works first, then scale it selectively across additional markets.

 Hack #6: Use automation where it matters

Kaufland Global Marketplaces offers a range of tools and services that simplify operational processes – from pricing automation to campaign features.

These can help to:

•  reduce repetitive tasks
•  react faster to market changes
•  enable operational scaling

However: Automation delivers the most value when the fundamentals (pricing, assortment, content) are already properly set up.

Hack #7: Use AI as operational support

With solutions like the intelligent chat assistant called “Ailora”, Kaufland Global Marketplace is increasingly integrating AI-driven support into the seller workflow.

Current use cases include:

• performance analysis and KPI insights
• automatic translation of content and communication
• product data optimization
• support with delivery time accuracy

 In the future, AI is expected to take on a more active role in operational processes: suggesting actions and executing them after seller approval.

Classification: AI can significantly speed up execution, but it does not replace strategic decision-making.

Hack #8: Leverage external reach – but don’t rely on it

Kaufland Global Marketplace also supports sellers through external traffic channels such as:

• Google Shopping
• price comparison platforms
• social media
• its own reach channels

However, marketplace experience shows that external reach works best when offers are already performing well internally. The same principle applies: Reach alone is not enough, it only amplifies existing performance.

Marketplace Universe Insight

The biggest advantage of Kaufland Global Marketplace is not the entry, but the combination of reach, infrastructure, and scalability.

The case studies (e.g. ~169% traffic growth, ~70% revenue increase, or ROAS of 1,100% in certain categories) clearly show that growth is the result of deliberate execution.

At the same time, a clear pattern emerges:

• Access is easy
• Tools are available
• Reach is substantial

 The decisive factor is therefore not whether sellers start, but how consistently they use the available levers.

Quick success happens where:

• pricing is managed with discipline
• visibility is actively built
• successful setups are scaled quickly

Or put differently: The barrier to entry is low, but operational excellence remains the real competitive advantage.

Key Learnings

• Automation and AI support execution, but do not replace solid fundamentals
• A fast start is possible, but sustainable success requires active management
• Pricing and ads are the core growth levers
• Internationalization is a multiplier, not a shortcut

Want to learn more about Kaufland’s marketplaces? Then check out our podcast with Doreen Schumm from Kaufland Global Marketplace or read the blog post “How to sell internationally on Kaufland Global Marketplace”.

Der Beitrag 8 Hacks for Quick Success with Kaufland Global Marketplace erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

When we talk about international expansion, we often focus on market research, business models, channel strategies, and high-level decisions. So what does expansion really look like for brands and sellers in day-to-day practice? And how can going cross-border be made as simple and efficient as possible? Kaufland Global Marketplace is good example for a marketplace that really tries to help its sellers on their road to internationalization. Because this marketplace operator has achieved something that’s still rare in the European marketplace landscape: a unified, cross-country system. With just a few clicks, sellers can go live in up to seven European markets simultaneously – significantly reducing both technical and operational complexity. Here is their guide “How to sell international on Kaufland Global Marketplace”.

Seven Markets, One System: Why Kaufland is Worth Considering

Over the past few years, Kaufland Global Marketplace has focused on simplifying international expansion. Through a central platform, sellers can currently access marketplaces in seven countries: Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria – and starting in late summer 2025, also France and Italy. In total, this means access to up to 139 million potential online shoppers.

The Seller Portal is the command center: it allows sellers to manage and translate everything from product data and legal texts to shipping rules – all tailored to the relevant country. Even after-sales service can be handled centrally across markets.

One Registration – Many Channels to sell international

Sellers only need to register once to access all Kaufland marketplaces. At onboarding, they can choose to launch in one or multiple countries – and additional markets can be added at any time without re-registration.

Requirements to get started:

• Valid business registration
• EAN (GTIN) for all products
• No products from  prohibited categories
• Compliance with country-specific rules, e.g., EPR regulations

The Pricing

Kaufland Global Marketplace treats its multi-market offering as a unified package – and this is reflected in the fee model. Sellers pay a flat monthly fee of €39.95 (Basic) or €59.95 (Plus), plus a category-based commission. The big advantage: adding additional countries incurs no extra cost. Listing products is also free and unlimited across all marketplaces.

How the Operational Rollout Works

Especially valuable for sellers with existing system landscapes: the rollout can be largely automated. Kaufland offers free tools for data transfer and translation, and over 130 integration partners ensure smooth connectivity with popular ERP and shop systems.

The Seven Steps to Internationalization

In its guide, Kaufland Global Marketplace clearly walks sellers through the onboarding steps with dashboard screenshots and explanations:

1. Activate sales channels:
   Add additional marketplaces directly from the Seller Portal.
2. Enter tax details:
   Submit your OSS number or country-specific VAT ID depending on your location.
3. Transfer legal texts:
   Create once, automatically translate and apply to all relevant markets.
4. Define shipping groups:
   Set up country-specific or unified shipping settings across multiple regions.
5. Adjust offer data:
   Integrate via API, CSV, manually or via software partners – don’t forget to set local currency.
6. Translate product data:
   Use the automated service for translating texts and images.
7. Go live:
   Publish with a single click – or wait for automatic activation within 24 hours.

Conclusion: Less Complexity, More Reach

For many brands and sellers, internationalization is no longer optional – it’s essential for growth. And while marketplaces promise fast access to new markets, the reality often involves complex tech setups, fragmented structures, and inconsistent policies. Kaufland Global Marketplace takes a different approach: one platform, one logic, one interface – across seven markets. This drastically lowers the barrier to entry and enables scalable growth from day one. A compelling model – and one that other marketplaces would do well to learn from.

The complete guide with all its practical tips that shows how to sell international on Kaufland Global Marketplace is available free of charge here:

Der Beitrag How to sell international on Kaufland Global Marketplace erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Marketplaces are a popular choice for many retailers and brands looking to expand into international markets. Wiltec, a specialist retailer in DIY, garden, and pet supplies, leverages several platforms for its cross-border commerce strategy – including Kaufland Global Marketplace. This best practice showcases how Wiltec scales internationally with Kaufland.

Launch on Kaufland in 2019

Wiltec has been present on the platform for over five years. The company launched on the German marketplace in October 2019 – back then still operating under real.de. Kaufland acquired real.de in 2020 and rebranded it as kaufland.de in April 2021. Since then, Kaufland has added four more countries to its marketplace portfolio. Wiltec has followed every launch: in spring 2023, the company expanded to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and in late summer 2024 to Austria and Poland. Italy and France are planned for Q3 2025.

Wiltec lists its entire product portfolio – approximately 8,000 items – across all Kaufland marketplaces. The assortment spans DIY, garden products, pond and water technology, outdoor equipment, pet supplies, and photography accessories. Wiltec’s motto: “If it fits in a box, we can sell it.” The wide range appeals to a broad audience, though the core target group consists of male shoppers aged 35 to 65.

Active on Many Marketplaces

Wiltec has been operating its own online shop for over 20 years – now available in eight languages. The goal is to serve customers across Europe. Beyond Kaufland, Wiltec is also active on marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Hood, ManoMano, Leroy Merlin, CDiscount, Galaxus, Carrefour, OnBuy, and Zooplus in France.

Wiltec chose Kaufland because it is a key player in several important European markets – and because it’s easy to use. Seamless data synchronization – including product, offer, and order data – was crucial for the initial integration. Thanks to Kaufland’s interface, this was relatively simple to implement, with only minor support needed in terms of data structure and formatting.

Straightforward International Expansion with Kaufland

Expanding to new Kaufland marketplaces proved to be straightforward: Kaufland automatically transferred Wiltec’s product data and provided automated translations. Wiltec only needed to adapt legal texts, define shipping groups, and set up returns processes. Merchants can connect to Kaufland using three options: CSV files, the Kaufland API, or through an integrator. Wiltec currently uses CSV files, which can be submitted regularly and imported by Kaufland automatically. However, the company is also considering building a direct interface between Kaufland and its proprietary ERP system to enable more flexible and faster inventory updates.

Language barriers are one of the main challenges in internationalization. Wiltec initially uses Kaufland’s automated translations and later replaces them with versions provided by its own translation team. The 30-person customer service team is multilingual, which greatly facilitates international operations. For phone support, English usually works well, and written inquiries are handled using tools like DeepL.

Over 4 Million euros in GMV

Wiltec has seen strong performance on the Kaufland marketplaces. “It’s been a fun journey, and we’re happy with the results – we’re excited about the new markets to come,” says Platform Manager Patryk Heppding-Gonsior. In 2024, Wiltec generated over 4 million euros in GMV across all Kaufland marketplaces. Germany is the top-performing country, followed by the Czech Republic and Poland, then Austria and Slovakia. The average shopping cart value is 70 euros.

Wiltec takes advantage of all available advertising options on Kaufland, including vouchers, Sponsored Product Ads, Sponsored Brands Ads, and sales promotions. The advertising budget mirrors that on other marketplaces, amounting to approximately 8% of marketplace revenue.

“Just give it a try – it really is that easy”

Patryk’s advice to merchants considering international expansion with Kaufland: “Just give it a try – it really is that easy.” AI tools and translation services like DeepL are now highly reliable and help overcome language barriers. For him, the most critical success factor is aligning international shipping processes with logistics partners, including the correct display or inclusion of freight rates. Additionally, merchants must ensure their ERP systems can handle foreign currency invoicing, especially for markets like Poland or the Czech Republic. He also notes that fees may apply when payouts in foreign currencies are booked into a German bank account.

His conclusion: “The automated transfer of our products and automatic translation have been the most helpful aspects. This allows us to expand to new Kaufland marketplaces much faster than on other platforms,” says Patryk. He also appreciates the close cooperation with Kaufland’s Key Account Management, which provides direct access to contacts via email or phone.

Want to know more about Kaufland? Then come to our Connect event with Kaufland on June 23 in Berlin! Spaces are limited, so reserve your spot here. 

Der Beitrag Best Practice: How Wiltec Scales Internationally with Kaufland erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Internationalization in 28 markets and within just a few months? That sounds utopian, but it is feasible. The Fulda-based lighting specialist Lampenwelt has proven this with its internationalization.

internationalization in EU, Norway, UK and Switzerland

The first step in the internationalization of Lampenwelt was to define the goal: to cover the EU as well as Norway, Great Britain and Switzerland across all relevant marketplaces. “We don’t think that the offers cannibalize each other. 80 percent of the buying process begins with product research on marketplaces. So we have to be present where our average customer is. Just relying on Amazon is not enough.” This is how Miro Mevius, Head of Marketplaces at Lampenwelt, outlined the strategy of Lampenwelt in a stage talk at the Marketplace Convention.

selecting the relevant marketplaces

The second step in internationalization is selecting the relevant marketplaces. Miro divides them into three groups:

• Group 1 includes indispensable marketplaces that generate a large share of sales. Collaboration with a dedicated key account manager is close, and investments in advertising and special promotions are high.
• Group 2 includes marketplaces of secondary importance. They are not proactively cultivated; the motto is more along the lines of “take what is offered.”
• Group 3 includes marketplaces that are not doing so well, but which fit into the overall concept for some reason, for example because an additional country hardly means any more effort in a certain marketplace setting.

In addition to global players, local heroes in the respective countries are important because they often enjoy a great deal of trust among customers. They also often have the necessary market penetration to ensure the desired market presence for the lamp world. For him, this includes, for example, BOL in the Benelux countries or Allegro in Poland.

focus on profitability

After that, all efforts are focused on profitability. For Miro, this means: get your basics in order!

• Ensure good data: clean product data and good content are the be-all and end-all for a fast and successful marketplace business. They reduce the effort required for product listing and customer support, as well as returns costs. “Otherwise, the high advertising budgets are simply not worthwhile,” Miro is convinced.
• Get your IT in shape: only if processes run smoothly can they be scaled quickly. And: anything that doesn’t have to be done by hand saves time and money. That’s why he always tries to automate as much as possible, for example, refunds for returns.
• Build a good team: teams that are too large complicate a lot of things unnecessarily. At Lampenwelt, there are only five marketplace employees.

The team works on the basis of fact sheets that are created for each country. All departments involved have to complete them by a given time, adding questions and their own comments. “If it’s not in there by day X, it no longer exists,” emphasizes Miro. This is how he avoids unproductive communication, in which hundreds of e-mails are sent back and forth.

The focus on profitability also means constantly reviewing the performance of the various marketplaces in the respective countries. “Marketplaces are expensive to connect and maintain. If a marketplace is no longer profitable, I have to shut it down.” But before taking this ultimate step, it can be worthwhile to get in touch with the provider and ask for more data, for example. This can then serve as a basis for optimizing the range to a limited number of top sellers.

time-to-market: 14 days

For Miro, these stable basics are the foundation for growth – and a time to market of 14 days. That’s why it was important for him to have everything technologically bundled in one tool. “We turned everything inside out in our IT and chose ChannelEngine as our new ERP,” he says. This way, he can see everything at a glance and has more time for other things – for example, internationalization in record time.

What’s missing in internationalization?

What is still missing? “We are not yet present in Central and Eastern Europe. However, we see great potential there and if the opportunity arises, we will be there,” says Miro. He also sees room for improvement in logistics, because too much still has to be reworked manually – an issue he wants to tackle in 2025.

Not even a year after the start of the internationalization, he is satisfied. Because his marketplace concept is a success: “The bottom line is that we are positive about our marketplace business. Since the start, we have grown by several thousand percent.”

Der Beitrag Best practice: Internationalization at Lampenwelt erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Why Internationalization Has Been the Key Growth Factor in 2024

One of Marketplace Universe’s key predictions for marketplace business development in 2023 and 2024 was clear: internationalization would drive growth, even in a challenging economic environment. Now, as we review the first set of available data, we can say confidently: our predictions were spot-on. While e-commerce markets across Western Europe have faced economic headwinds in 2023, European cross-border sales have continued their upward trajectory. This trend is highlighted by recent data from “Cross-Border E-Commerce“:

In 2023/2024, European cross-border e-commerce generated €326 billion, reflecting a 22% year-on-year growth. The numbers show that cross-border commerce remains resilient, unaffected by both the pandemic-fueled boom and the subsequent economic slowdown that has dampened national e-commerce growth rates. Internationalization is here to stay.

What’s Driving this growth? Marketplaces!

Marketplaces are the primary engine behind cross-border growth. In 2023/2024, a remarkable 69% of all European cross-border sales took place on online marketplaces. According to CB Commerce, the majority of this revenue (over 60%) and the highest growth rates come from the top 10 platforms active in Europe: Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Etsy, Temu, Vinted, OLX, Shein, Discogs, and Zalando. However, many mid-tier platforms are also capturing significant cross-border revenue, benefiting from this ongoing trend.

In challenging economic times, cross-border business on online marketplaces has proven to be a strong growth area. But which industries are making the most of it?

Cross-border e-commerce is particularly prominent in smaller European economies, where it makes up a larger percentage of online sales. Markets such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, Czechia, and Slovakia benefit more robustly from cross-border sales than larger economies like Germany or France, which are slower to capitalize on the trend. The UK, with its close ties to the U.S. market, has a comparatively weaker share of cross-border turnover within Europe, standing as an exception to the trend.

A deeper Look: Cross-Border in Germany

To illustrate this, let’s examine the German market, the largest in the EU. Historically, German e-commerce has been slower to embrace cross-border opportunities, but a shift has begun over the past five years. According to a recent ECDB study:

Export net sales from German online stores grew by 41% between 2019 and 2023. However, these figures remain modest, indicating substantial growth potential. In 2023, cross-border sales represented only about 5% of Germany’s total e-commerce turnover.

German e-commerce companies also have untapped potential on marketplaces. Their export gross merchandise volume (GMV) comprises just a quarter of Germany’s online cross-border turnover. This limited reach is due in part to a reliance on nearby markets—most German cross-border sales go to Austria and Switzerland. This narrow focus suggests an opportunity for German companies to expand into new, untapped regions and capture more cross-border growth.

Conclusion: The Future of Cross-Border Growth Lies in Marketplaces

As we move forward, it’s clear that internationalisation will continue to be a defining force in the European e-commerce landscape – and that cross border grows on marketplaces. Despite economic uncertainties and slower growth in traditional e-commerce sectors, internationalization offers a vital pathway for expansion, especially on online marketplaces. Companies that prioritize cross-border strategies and leverage marketplace platforms will be best positioned to thrive in this evolving landscape. By expanding beyond familiar markets and tapping into emerging opportunities across borders, businesses of all sizes can unlock new streams of revenue and strengthen their resilience in the face of economic challenges. For those ready to take the leap, the potential rewards are vast—and the time to act is now.

Your starting point for your Cross Border marketplace journey: Our Marketplace Country Quadrants

To help you identify the most interesting marketplaces for your internationalisation endevour, we have started comprising our “Marketplace country quadrants”. This carefully researched and regularly updated infographics inform about the most relevant marketplaces in a certain country market, sorted by industry.

So far, we have published country quadrants for UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Check out our country quadrants here.

Der Beitrag Cross Border grows on marketplaces erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Retailers and brands from the German market in particular tend to rate the importance of Amazon as a sales channel very highly. This is logical, as an estimated 60 percent of German online sales are made via Amazon.de, as the German Retail Association (HDE) confirmed in its recently published Online Monitor 2024 study. Amazon also has an outstanding position for local e-commerce in other Western and Central European countries. But things look different in other nations. That’s why an internationalization with Amazon is sometimes not enough.

Not Everywhere as dominant as in Germany

Industry observers have long felt that Amazon is having a much harder time in Poland, Sweden or Portugal, for example, than in Germany, Italy or France – but it is only since last year that this feeling can be backed up with concrete figures.

In October 2023, Amazon published its first “EU Store Transparency Report”, in which the platform complied with EU requirements and listed Amazon’s monthly user figures per EU country for the first time. The second edition of this report was published at the end of April and includes Amazon visits in the third and fourth quarters of 2023.

Calculation of „Amazon penetration“

And if you now put these monthly user figures in relation to the total number of online users in this country, you get a value that you can call “Amazon penetration”: This is the proportion of a country’s online-active population that statistically visits an Amazon website once a month.

We had some fun calculating this online penetration for the 12 largest countries in the EU in terms of population – and some exciting findings came to light, for example:

• Statistically speaking, almost every Italian online user surfed Amazon once a month in the second half of 2023. This makes Italy the market with the highest Amazon penetration in Europe (98.6%). Interesting to note: In the first half of the year, Germany was still ahead with a figure of almost 80%. Apparently, the Italian Christmas and Prime Day business is even more Amazon-centric than the German market.
• Despite the strong local hero Bol.com, Amazon regularly reaches a good third of online users in Benelux.
• Portugal and Greece are almost the same size in terms of population. However, while at least 20 percent of online users in Portugal regularly visit Amazon, this figure is only 2 percent in Greece.
• Amazon continues to struggle in the CEE market. Amazon penetration in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary is in the low single-digit range.

Conclusion of Internationalization with Amazon

We find the figures from the EU Store Transparency Report extremely exciting and will continue to keep an eye on them. The more often the report is published, the more insights we will be able to derive about the impact that new Amazon marketplaces (such as Ireland in 2025) will have on Amazon penetration in individual countries. The very different penetration in individual European countries makes it clear why internationalization with Amazon is not always the best solution.

Der Beitrag Internationalization: Why amazon is not always The best solution erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.