Germany: Veiling Rhein-Maas sales increase to €364 million

For the 2016 financial year, Veiling Rhein-Maas – Germany's only flowers and plants auction – achieved sales of approx. €364 million. This corresponds to a growth of 4% in comparison to the previous year and was primarily the result of the increased average prices of flowers and plants. Thanks to these results, the two-man Management Board consisting of Uwe Bedenbecker and Marc Schax, who were appointed on 1 January 2017, have every faith that they will be able to foster this degree of growth in 2017, too. "We are looking forward to, together with Veiling Rhein-Maas' suppliers, customers and employees, both further developing the marketplace and tackling the future challenges posed by the sale of flowers and plants," says Marc Schax.

Increased sales in all sales channels
The positive sales developments, which were achieved via the auction, are very encouraging, particularly in light of the generally downward trend previously displayed by the auction clocks. The auction also offers the Remote Buying (KOA) and Clock pre sales electronic purchasing options. In addition, the company's supplemental purchasing intermediation department, clock service, has been an important driver of the growth experienced last year by the marketplace as a whole. Thanks to customers' significant interest, this sales channel was able to realise a growth percentage that reached the double digits. 2016 was a difficult year for Veiling Rhein-Maas, however, in particular for the gerbera, bulb flowers and primula product groups, the prices of which were under pressure across the market.

New customers with high turnover
At the marketplace in Straelen-Herongen, approximately 1,600 customers regularly make their purchases from a wide assortment of flowers and plants. "We were able to register a total of 57 new customers in 2016. They are mostly wholesalers and garden centres, and they strengthened the purchasing power and the demand at the auction clocks. At the end of the day, our new high-turnover customers buy a great deal more at Veiling Rhein-Maas than our smaller customers, who in the previous year opted for other purchasing channels or who had to cease their operations. In addition, the successful work of our customer relations department, which is responsible for, among other things, the acquisition of new customers, contributed significantly to the growth of the marketplace," Uwe Bedenbecker explains.

Clock pre sales
The Clock pre sales channel is another important contributor to the positive developments at Veiling Rhein-Maas. Clock pre sales gives suppliers to the marketplace the opportunity to offer a portion of their supplied products online before the auction begins and for a price set in advance. Marc Schax explains: "In January 2016, we opened Clock pre sales to include cut flowers and this year, our original objective for this sales channel has almost tripled. For 2017, we plan on further expanding the assortment and improving the user-friendliness of the system. Additionally, we want to realise a ‘Vorabzustellung’; in other words, we will ensure that sample lots of potted plants that were purchased via Clock pre sales are delivered before the products purchased at auction."

2017
At the start of 2017, Veiling Rhein-Maas organised a customers and suppliers day, during which the new Management Board took the opportunity to welcome more than 400 guests in the auction room. "It was at this meeting that the mega-trend of sustainability as a factor of success in our sector was proposed. Veiling Rhein-Maas will use 2017 to continue to work on this theme, starting by including the sale of Fairtrade-certified roses in our assortment. Following the results of last year's customer satisfaction survey, we plan on reducing the number of distribution errors and shortening the delivery process, both within the logistics process. In addition, we will use this year to reclaim our important role as the link between customers and suppliers, for example by organising two Together Active meetings," says Uwe Bedenbecker, commenting on a number of important activities the auction has planned for 2017.

For more information:
Veiling Rhein-Maas
info@veilingrheinmaas.com
www.veilingrheinmaas.com