C-19’s impact to last years

COVID-19’S effect on business and consumers could last for more than three years according to Mirakl, the technology group that powers online marketplaces for the likes of Toyota and Siemens.

It said that the pandemic has forced businesses to increasingly digitise their operations, enable staff to work from home and operate their businesses online. That translated into increased demand and activity levels on its customers’ marketplaces during lockdown, which it says has persisted.

Mirakl is operating on the assumption that this will continue for another two to three years due to the ongoing wait for a vaccine, the time it will take to administer it, as well as people embracing home working and the change in how business operates.

“In April, May, we saw customers’ marketplaces accelerate as people started working from home.

“That spike has flattened but the trend is here to stay,” Brendan Walsh, Mirakl’s general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said. “It’s going to be the case for the next two to three years because of Covid-19 and changes to the way people work.

“People also want more choice, what we saw in consumer markets is happening in B2B.”

Aside from customers such as Toyota and Siemens, Mirakl produces online business-to-business marketplaces for the likes of packaging giant Tetrapak, and consumer-facing websites for JD Sports, Joules and others.

Last week the French technology group raised $300million (£236.1 million) from private equity groups Permira, 83North, Bain, Elaia and Felix Capital in a deal that valued it at £1.2billion. Mirakl plans to use the money to finance its growth, that includes expanding its UK operations, which it plans to use to accelerate its growth across Northern Europe.

It is targeting UK small to medium sized businesses as well as Italy.

Walsh said Italy had been a digital laggard, “lockdown there was particularly severe and forced them to digitise quickly”.