Wolters Business Company

E-Commerce

As an eight-year-old, Rutger Wolters was already honing his sales skills in his father’s do-it-yourself shop. In 2008 he set up his own enterprise, Wolters Business Company. Now he heads a renowned E-commerce firm that sells paint and coatings under various brand names at home and abroad.

Rutger worked in the evening to build his first online store selling building materials and the first orders flooded in. Because he was selling so much paint on the site, he soon decided to have a separate online store for paint. Rutger: “I had the first online store for paint in The Netherlands and revenue went through the roof, doubling every year”. As the online demand for paint increased, so did the competition. In response, Rutger started selling niche products such as coatings for swimming pools, bathrooms, floors, PVC windows and anti graffiti. “There are even more products on the horizon which we will be rolling out over the next few months”, he says. For these niche markets Rutger has his own brands: Ruwol for the middle sector and Holdbar for the top sector. These products can be ordered from his online stores; Verfbestelsite.nl, Betonverfstore.nl, Holdbar.nl en Lijnolieshop.nl.

Super fast delivery

As well as a focus on niche products with their specific applications and good value for money, Rutger’s online stores offer speedy delivery, which is free for orders over 70 euros. At fulfilment associates Davo there are three paint mixing machines, two shakers and two special packing machines which quickly distribute orders to companies and private customers. Orders placed by 21.30 hours are delivered the next day in The Netherlands and Belgium, including special mixed colours! Wolters Business Company is the only company in The Netherlands which can deliver such service.

The latest online store is Holdbar.de which allows Rutger to reach out to the German market. Analysis of the online store paint market in Germany indicates that there are similar opportunities for the niche market as here in The Netherlands. Postage costs are only slightly higher than for the home market. For the moment orders for the German

market are handled from Deventer, including customer service in German. As this expands, the plan is to find a German fulfilment partner.