„Across countries and brands, the platform offers a quick and easy buying and selling process with broad offers from numerous sellers“, Agata Krawiec-Rokita, sun.store co-founder & CEO says. Features such as easy comparison of offers and the possibility of "buy it now" are the main highlights. „This platform for Europe is a long awaited opportunity in the face of overstocking and difficulties in selling across national borders“, she underlines.
„For installers looking for PV systems, the challenge lies in the ability to make simple and quick purchases at a low price. At the same time, distributors often have too large inventories and have difficulties in making cross-border sales“, Krawiec-Rokita says. In the European market in particular, there would have been a desire for an international platform to meet this challenge.
Transparent prices and availability
Currently, many European wholesalers and distributors face the problem of oversupply caused by excess capacity in China (nearly 1 TW of production capacity in 2023 versus less than 400 GW of global demand) and mild demand moderation (inflation, financial support from governments, and stabilization of energy prices). In such times – with an estimated available stock of 40 GW solar panels - companies with available inventory need a transnational platform that allows them to expand their reach and target installers who might be interested in their products.
Also interesting: Navigating price fluctuations
For buyers the new online marketplace provides access to multiple offers from numerous suppliers, across different brands and countries. „Sun.store also provides simple and clear information about prices and availability of installations. Thanks to secure payment options, installers can feel protected when shopping online“, Krawiec-Rokita says. Sellers, in turn, would benefit from the ease of entering new markets, the ability to liquidate excess inventory, and diversified distribution channels.
The new platform is also in line with the global trend of rapid development of eCommerce for B2B transactions. lnkwood Research forecasts tremendous growth - the global B2B eCommerce market was estimated at USD 21516.10 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 166315.23 billion by 2032. USD, with a CAGR of 22.50% during the forecast period 2023-2032. Sun.store is joining the trend and its unique approach to the PV market has already been awarded the "Promising Startups of RE Industry" prize at the 4th Solar Energy Storage Future Spain Conference end of September 2023 in Madrid.
Products from large European distributors – leading brands
The platform features products from Europe's largest distributors, including the Netherlands' Solar Today, Spain's AmaraNZero, the Czech Republic's Solarity, and Poland's Menlo Electric, Polenergia and BeelN, to name a few. In this way, installers can choose from the best offers for different types of installations from various manufacturers of modules, inverters, storage and all necessary accessories. Products from leading manufacturers are currently being sold, including those from Jinko, Longi, JA Solar, Trina, Canadian Solar, Huawei, SolarEdge, Sungrow, BYD, Pylon Tech, Goodwe, SMA, Fox EES oder Risen. In total there are 30 active distributors on board, along with almost 2000 offers.
Did you miss that? Wholesalers in dire straits again
Registration on the platform is possible for both buyers and sellers since October 10. Since then, more than 700 installers have already registered, according to Krawiec-Rokita. By the end of this year, she expects at least 2,000 installers to be registered. "One of the things we're going to do is make it much faster for installers to find the equipment they need and cut the search time in half," says the sun.store CEO.
sun.store
"In addition, everyone registered on our platform has a direct contact person," adds Jedrzej Orkisz, Co-founder and Chief Product and Technology Officer of sun.store. Currently, the sun.store team comprises around 15 people. A chat function is also available on the website.
Orkisz still sees the further development and maintenance of the database of available products with the exact product names and numbers as a challenge, but this only concerns a small proportion of the range on offer (currently around 3-5%).
Registration free of charge
Orkisz and Krawiek-Rokita also cite the automated uploading of offers, the digital customer service process, the lower user acquisition costs and thus a lower-risk expansion option as advantages for sellers. Among others, this is interesting for distributors from Eastern and Southeastern Europe who want to sell in Western Europe and have not yet established their own local sales team - or correspondingly for distributors in Western Europe in the other geographical direction. „I see a big potential for solar e-commerce“, Bartosz Majewski, CEO of Menlo Electric, underlines.
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So far, registration on the B2B platform is still free of charge for sellers and buyers. But in the future one plans the introduction of a fee for the sellers, so Krawiek-Rokita in the discussion with pv Europe last Wednesday on the Solar Solutions in Kortrijk (Belgium). In addition, they also plan to evaluate the possible sale of second-hand PV components on the platform in the future. Sun.store will be also present at the upcoming Solar Solutions in Dusseldorf, November 29-30 2023. (hcn)
