Regional marketplace Lozuka is booming

Online marketplaces are becoming more popular. This is also the case for regional platforms that bring local retailers and specialty stores together. One such example is Lozuka, which started in the German city Siegen, but is now, as a reaction to Covid-19, available to more regions.

Over 25 local retailers have joined the Lozuka platform in Siegen, a city in the German state North Rhine-Westphalia. Together, these local businesses generated sales worth 300,000 euros through this platform during the last three months. And this amount is expected to triple by the end of this year.

Dealers generated a total of €300,000 in sales through Lozuka this year.

Average order value grew 66% since 2016

On average, customers fill their shopping basket at Lozuka.Siegen with products worth 42.16 euros. For comparison: the average order value was just over 25 euros back in 2016. And the number of items in the shopping cart has also increased in four years’ time: from 13 back then to 22 now.

Broadly diversified offer

Groceries currently account for 43 percent of all orders that are placed on the local marketplace. “The offer is broadly diversified”, managing director Patrick Schulte says. “The eggs come from a mobile chicken coop, sausages from the butcher, spices from a specialist retailer, the new bestseller from a local book store and everyday goods from the supermarket”, he explains.

Groceries account for 43% of all orders.

There are two delivery time windows during the day. On average, the Lozuka drivers don’t travel more than 2 kilometers per customer. According to Schulte, the platform currently serves around a hundred customers on four trips every day.

Many new customers due to the coronavirus

With the coronavirus Covid-19 spreading across the globe, and thus also in Germany, many new customers are shopping online at the Lozuka platform. But the massive upward trend was already evident before the crisis, the company states. “The steadily growing number of participating companies and customers in the Siegen area shows the strong regional perception of the platform as a community.”

For free, while the Covid-19 crisis lasts

During the Covid-19 crisis, Lozuka offers the introduction and operation of its platform nationwide free of charge. Within 24 hours, local retailers in Germany can offer their products and services online to their customers.