NL: New online auction set to start

Every Dutch village used to have its own auction in the past. Over the years, the number of auctions gradually decreased, which resulted in just a few auctions in the country. Nowadays, this process seems to be taking a turn - online. You might be familiar with Floriday.io (Royal FloraHolland and FloraXchange who will be digitalizing the floriculture sector together), the intention of Dutch Flower Group and FleuraMetz to start up a digital platform and the Australian based FreshBids that is about to auction and supply flowers to the Netherlands. Now, a new, international online flower and plant auction is about to open: ClockOnline. It is an independent digital platform that, according to initiator Marco Stolze, will bring some efficiency to the ornamentals industry.

The one-stop-shop method allows growers to offer a wide variety of flowers and plants at a market-friendly price in real-time. At their home or office, the buyer is assured of the freshest flowers and plants at the push of a button. 

According to Marco, many growers and traders are unsure about the future of the auction: "At the auction they are quickly getting rid of the clocks, while at the same time a lot of uncertainty remains. In itself, the initiative of Floriday.io is a nice idea and the reaction of Marco van Zijverden of the DFG is also understandable; he is concerned and wants to create a platform together with FleuraMetz. But both parties also have their own interests and there are still things concerning growers and traders that don’t fit in. That’s why there’s a need for an independent initiative, and I’m not dependent on anyone."

Marco has been active in trade for decades and has been hearing about the concerns and problems from both growers and traders. That's why he is aware that there was a lot of interest everywhere, especially from the 'forgotten growers' - growers that, according to Marco, the auction does not focus on. "When I launched the announcement last Friday, the reaction was overwhelming. A lot of people have announced their interest, so I think it will really take off once it’s online.” 

The auction is set to start at the end of the year. In the meantime, an IT company is building the platform for Marco and he has a team of administrators for all additional aspects. He himself is on the road to sell ClockOnline, and does not have any illusions: "I don't expect the entire industry to sign up immediately. Everyone has their own vision and ideas, and that’s a good thing. But there shouldn’t be some sort of Greenery in ornamentals, a party determining the order of business. We’re starting ClockOnline to hopefully prevent this."

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