Brandsom has acquired its competitor Longrun, becoming the largest performance marketplace specialist in the Benelux. With this acquisition, the company also gains access to the Merchant of Record infrastructure on Zalando. This allows Brandsom's customers to sell directly and without hassle on Zalando and other marketplaces.
Brandsom was founded in Utrecht in 2019 and specialises in building brands on European marketplaces, such as Amazon, Bol.com, and Zalando. The company assists with setting up marketplace strategies, integration, onboarding, advertising, and content optimization. It specialises in Fashion, Home & Garden, and Consumer Products. Longrun, founded by Jeroen Berghauser Pont and Folkert Postma, is a marketplace specialist focused on fashion with brands like Tramontana in its customer base. With the acquisition, Brandsom has become the largest marketplace specialist in the Benelux in the field of fashion.
Merchant of Record
Before the acquisition, Brandsom's customers had to create their own sales accounts to begin integrating their products on marketplaces. With the acquisition of Longrun, Brandsom can now offer a so-called 'Merchant of Record' service, allowing brands to use Brandsom’s sales account to sell their products directly.
Brandsom wanted to take over this infrastructure and decided to approach Longrun for an acquisition in January. After two months of holding talks, an agreement was reached for a direct acquisition. "With our new product Merchant of Record, brands can go live much faster on Zalando, one of the largest fashion marketplaces in Europe," says Thijs Verhoef, CEO and Founder of Brandsom. Brandsom plans to expand the Merchant of Record to other marketplaces in the near future, with About You first on the agenda for the second quarter of 2024.
"With our new product Merchant of Record, brands can go live much faster on Zalando, one of the largest fashion marketplaces in Europe"
Thijs Verhoef: CEO and Founder of Brandsom
A win-win-win
Longrun will immediately become part of Brandsom. Brandsom can help Longrun's customers elevate their marketplace strategies to the next level: "We see it as a win-win-win situation, where the customers, Brandsom, and we all benefit from it," says Folkert Postma, CCO and founder of Longrun. In addition to helping with the onboarding of products, Brandsom can also assist with advertising and making the brands available on other marketplaces. For Brandsom's customers, it becomes even easier to get their products online on Zalando and soon on other marketplaces as well.
"We see it as a win-win-win situation, where the customers, Brandsom, and we all benefit from it"
Folkert Postma: CCO and Founder of Longrun
Brandsom is also looking to the future for opportunities to further expand the company. "We are always looking at opportunities to grow further through strategic acquisitions," says Thijs Verhoef. For now, Brandsom is going to work on getting its new product to customers and expanding into other marketplaces.