Overall, Veiling Rhein-Maas can look back on a positive business year 2020 despite the challenging year for all partners of the marketplace. With product sales of 387 million euros, the auction recorded an increase of 11% compared to the previous year. In the context of the Corona pandemic, the digital sales channels of the marketplace were increasingly used. In order to offer more customers the opportunity to buy digitally, the capacity at Remote Buying was expanded at the beginning of April. Nonetheless, the physical auction clock remains the most important sales channel in Straelen-Herongen and has achieved an 8% higher product turnover in 2020 than in the previous year. Therefore, Veiling Rhein-Maas also invested in the conversion of the auction clock front to modern LED technology in 2020, which was completed in August.
Digital sales channels increasingly popular
The digital sales channels Remote Buying, Clock pre sales and the Webshop continue to develop positively and are increasingly used by the customers and suppliers of Veiling Rhein-Maas, especially due to current developments. The share of Remote Buying in the total turnover of the auction was almost 37% in 2020 - in 2019 it was around 30%. In addition, Clock pre sales achieved a record turnover of 27 million euros in 2020. The Webshop of Veiling Rhein-Maas, newly introduced at the beginning of the last year, also continues to receive positive feedback from customers and suppliers of the marketplace. In addition to the digital sales channels, the Clock Service also achieved an increase in product sales at cut flowers and especially at potted plants compared to the previous year.
Developments in the last quarter of 2020
The last quarter at Veiling Rhein-Maas was satisfactory overall, both for the sale of cut flowers and potted plants. The Advent and pre-Christmas business at Veiling Rhein-Maas was positive. Due to the subsequent lockdown from 16 December 2020, it was initially unclear to many customers of the marketplace whether they would be allowed to continue to open their shops, which lead to cautious purchasing behavior at Veiling Rhein-Maas. After it became clear which shops could continue to open, at least to a limited extent, sales stabilised again slightly at the end of calendar week 51.
10th anniversary
On Sunday, 29 November 2020, Veiling Rhein-Maas turned 10 years old. At the end of 2010, Veiling Rhein-Maas was founded as a joint venture between the German company Landgard and the Dutch company Royal FloraHolland. During the Corona pandemic, the 10th anniversary could not be celebrated with all partners in the way Veiling Rhein-Maas would have wished. A proper celebration will certainly be made up as soon as the situation allows it. However, Veiling Rhein-Maas celebrated on a small scale. During the anniversary week, the foyer in Straelen-Herongen was festively decorated: a large "10" made of flowers stood in the centre of attention and was framed by great workpieces from some of their customers.
Veiling Rhein-Maas would once again like to thank all customers, suppliers and employees for the good cooperation, the trust and the support in this special year and also in the last 10 years!