How speed, stability and partnership support Zelfbouwmarkt's digital growth

Zelfbouwmarkt has been a household name in the DIY sector for 45 years. What started as a physical retail operation has evolved into a hybrid player with a rapidly growing online channel. With more than 20 000 items, they are the biggest webshop of Flanders.

That digital growth demands reliable, high-performance and scalable infrastructure. In this case study, we share how the switch to Hosted Power and Shopware gave Zelfbouwmarkt not only technical peace of mind, but also room to sharpen their online ambition: €10 million in online revenue within five years.

Since we’ve been working with Hosted Power, I am confident that our web shop is fast enough and won’t crash. Everything runs fast, both in back-end and front-end. We have confidence in the employees of Hosted Power and they keep an eye on everything. This allows us to focus on our core business: making customers happy by helping them to build their home.

Stijn Desmet - CEO Zelfbouwmarkt.

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The challenge

Zelfbouwmarkt has been a fixture in DIY for decades. Their omnichannel strategy matured over time, with online becoming increasingly critical.

Around 2020, the existing hosting environment started to show its limits. Performance issues became structural and technical optimizations got stuck in endless back-and-forth between different suppliers.

Together with their trusted digital partner Studio Emma, Zelfbouwmarkt started looking for a hosting setup that could truly support their ambitions.

 

The switch

Via Studio Emma, two potential hosting partners were evaluated. One of them was Hosted Power.

"The choice wasn't purely rational. Price played a role, but so did the vibe. There was a lot of communication with Jo, the founder of Hosted Power. And yes, Jo is just a really good guy. That makes a difference."

That personal connection, combined with strong technical expertise and a clear focus on performance, made the decision clear.

The collaboration became even stronger when Zelfbouwmarkt migrated to Shopware. Studio Emma had just added Shopware to their platform offering, and Zelfbouwmarkt became their pilot project. Hosted Power already had deep Shopware expertise, which completed the picture.

 

The solution

A stable, fast Shopware environment

Today, Zelfbouwmarkt has been on Shopware for over a year, fully hosted by Hosted Power.

The result is peace of mind. Not only thanks to speed, but especially because of stability during peak moments such as sales periods and Black Friday.

During those peaks, revenue goes three to four times above normal. Where this used to cause stress, the platform now scales smoothly. Hosted Power proactively anticipates campaigns and scaling needs, preventing downtime, lost marketing spend and brand damage.

"The speed is just really good. Sometimes I'm still amazed at how fast everything runs. You can feel that there's constant fine-tuning happening in the background. It just works."

 

Partnership as a success factor

For Zelfbouwmarkt, Hosted Power is more than a hosting provider. "You really gain a partner. Not an anonymous supplier."

With a shared vision on European cloud, data sovereignty and scalable performance, Zelfbouwmarkt looks ahead with confidence.

"For us, Hosted Power is a key link in making our digital ambition a reality. That €10 million in online revenue won't happen by itself. But with the right partners, it becomes achievable."

 

Data as strategic capital

Zelfbouwmarkt brings 45 years of sales history into a modern customer data platform. This enables the creation of 360-degree customer profiles and smarter personalization.

Hosted Power supports this strategy through transparency, access to server log files and a strong emphasis on data ownership.

Privacy and European cloud

Data sovereignty is becoming increasingly important for Zelfbouwmarkt. Hosted Power positions itself clearly as a European cloud alternative, independent of US cloud legislation.

This aligns perfectly with Zelfbouwmarkt's long-term vision, where data is treated as a strategic asset they want to fully control.

Afbeelding
Tim and Kristof in Zelfbouwmarkt

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