Merger of online platforms: Visable as new umbrella for "Wer liefert was" and Europages

B2B online commerce is regarded as a market with great growth potential, even exceeding that of B2C commerce. In 2015, for example, the market research company Frost & Sullivan predicted that the volume of B2B online trade will reach around 6,700 billion US dollars by 2020 - compared with 3,200 billion US dollars in the B2C sector. However, the B2B market is highly fragmented. This makes it difficult to properly tap the potential. "We are only at the beginning, as the behavior of B2B customers is oriented towards that of B2C customers," said Carsten Brandt, Head of Corporate Communications at wlw at a press conference last week.

Better tapping market potential by merging online platforms

It is known that corporate buyers today spend an average of 5.5 hours researching suppliers online. This means that visibility on the web is the be-all and end-all for SMEs. More and more companies have recognized this and are investing more in online marketing. Visable", a merger of the two online platforms "Wer liefert was" and Europages, now wants to take up this trend. The goal: to exploit the large European domestic market with 300 million people and over 20 million relevant companies. And the new company is also a response to international players from the U.S., China, and India, who are taking more and more market share. Visable is targeting double-digit revenue growth in the coming years. The wlw Group's revenue of around 50 million euros in 2018 is to be doubled to 100 million euros in the medium term under Visable. The name "Visable" is a made-up word and is composed of the English words "visible" for visible and "enable" for enable. The company name thus describes the service promise of providing small and medium-sized companies with more visibility and reach on the Internet, as Marketing Director Carsten Brandt explained.

Well-known brands remain

Together with its subsidiary Europages, wlw is already represented in 29 countries. In all European markets together, the two online platforms combine more than 3.7 million monthly users and over 50 million visits per year on their platforms. Swiss companies that want to be as visible as possible online in the DACH region and in the countries of Europe now have only one contact for accessing the services of "Wer liefert was" and EUROPAGES. However, both platforms will continue to exist as brands or offerings of Visable, as will the online marketing services already offered today, with which companies can expand their reach beyond the B2B marketplaces. The Swiss branch of "Wer liefert was" in Baar will remain unchanged.

Expanded service portfolio

Visable supports companies in Europe in using digital sales channels and marketing activities for themselves and thus being visible throughout Europe. The activities are based on two pillars: On the one hand, there are the aforementioned and proven online marketplaces wlw and Europages. On the other side, Visable offers comprehensive services for online marketing, such as Google Ads, retargeting, a so-called "Company Data Optimizer" and web analytics. "Apart from Visable, no other provider in Europe offers solutions tailored specifically to companies from its own B2B marketplaces and online marketing services to bring together international buyers and providers of products and services," explains Visable CEO Peter F. Schmid.

Annual investments in the millions

Visable is increasingly investing in the development and expansion of expertise and personnel. Only recently, with the acquisition of the Gebraucht.de platform, the company further expanded its expertise in segments that are so important for the B2B sector, such as user-centric search, communication options between sellers and buyers, app development, and the implementation of modern software architecture and cloud infrastructure. With Gebraucht.de, Visable also gained an additional new company location in Berlin.

"We will continue to invest in personnel, IT infrastructure and the improvement of our marketplaces 'Wer liefert was' and EUROPAGES in order to be able to offer our customers the best range of coverage on the Internet and at the same time offer buyers the best search in B2B," says Peter F. Schmid. "An annual amount in the millions is available for this purpose, and further acquisitions in the future are not ruled out." According to the company, which is owned by private equity firm Capvis and management, the investments are all made from its own cash flow.

Investments are also being made in Visable's corporate management, especially with regard to the IT/product area. With Daniel Keller as CTO, an experienced man has been appointed to the management. Important stations of his career were, among others, Microsoft or Axel Springer SE. Also new are Srikanth Achanta as Senior Director Engineering and Tarik Zahzah as the new Head of Partner Sales Management.

Consequence of the digital transformation

Visable's expansion course should also be seen in the context of the digital transformation that many companies in Europe are undergoing. Whereas for a long time many companies provided their existing or potential trade partners with thick catalog books to publicize their product range, today they are increasingly using online platforms. The classic sales representative, who has personal contact with the companies, retains a certain importance, but it is also being replaced in part by digital ordering processes.

The digital transformation has increased the need for online availability of the most accurate information possible on products and services when purchasing on the part of companies. This is because professional buyers have the same expectations in business as they do in private online shopping. Sales on the part of companies must therefore present their own products and services on the Internet in a similarly detailed manner as is already the case today in end customer business in the high-price segment. For example, before buying cars, luxury goods and consumer electronics, private Internet users today receive such a realistic impression thanks to images, videos or 3D animations that a personal consultation or physical contact with the product before purchase is almost superfluous.

More information: www.visable.com