“As a brand, we have to be where our customers are”

In July, for the first time, Bauerfeind started to sell medical products directly to consumers in the Netherlands via its own online shop. For Franz Mock, Head of B2C E-Commerce, and his team, this is a pioneer project. He explains to Nahtlos Magazine why this is so much more than just a new sales channel.

Franz, why have you decided to sell directly to consumers in the Netherlands?

Business in the Netherlands is dominated by medical retailers. At the same time, the goal as a brand is to be where the consumers are – and they can be most easily reached online. This helps us better understand what our customers need and boosts brand visibility. It also means we’re less dependent on other online suppliers and marketplaces where our products are on offer.

Bauerfeind also has its own online shops in other countries. What is different this time?

In markets such as the US or China, we’ve been selling directly to consumers via subsidiaries for a while. We’re also selling our sports products in some shops. What is new is that, for the first time, we’re selling medical products directly to consumers in a market in Central Europe. 

What can people buy in the shop?

Basically anything that can be sold “out of the box”. Products that need to be individually adapted, such as the SecuTec Genu, are not included. For this type of product, we’re cooperating with medical retailers as usual and refer to them from the online shop.

How complex was setting up the new shop?

Project kick-off was in the summer of 2025 and in July 2026, we went live. My Co-Team Leader Janine Heider and I drove this project together with Koen Klinkhamer, Commercial Manager in the Netherlands. In total, about 30 colleagues were involved, primarily from the Digital Unit and the subsidiary in the Netherlands. Cooperation was very hands-on and helpful.

What was the biggest challenge?

A question we heard a few times was: Why is it taking so long? My answer: We’re not building an online shop but a scalable online business. That’s a bit more complex than just designing a website. Hundreds of items and pages had to be revised and integrated into the shop with a logical structure. Furthermore, we’re imagining it all from the consumer’s perspective, whether they’re a young person who cycles or a grandfather: We want to understand the needs of people using our products. And we want to support them along the entire customer journey – even beyond the website. The objective is to create a growth business.

How has the shop been received so far?

We have combined the existing pages bauerfeind-sports.nl and bauerfeind.nl into bauerfeind.nl. This wasn’t without risk because visibility in search engines, such as Google, could have been affected. But so far, the opposite seems to be true: It has increased significantly. 

Which product currently sells best?

At the moment, three quarters of sales are made up of sports products and one quarter of medical products. Right now, the best seller is the Sports Knee Support. But I expect it to become the GenuTrain sooner or later.

What’s next?

We’re now further developing the processes and working out which of them we’re taking on centrally and where the subsidiary’s regional knowledge is required. Cycling is a good example: There are a lot of cycle paths in the Netherlands. Cycling has a whole different priority in the Netherlands compared to Germany. We have to combine the local team’s regional expertise with our central processes so we can specifically address our customers.