nlockd

Nlockd: the AI platform for e-commerce on marketplaces, where tens of millions of European consumers search and buy products every day.

The market is shifting. Webshops are losing ground. Marketplaces are winning. Amazon, Bol, Kaufland, Zalando and hundreds of other platforms now form the new battleground of digital commerce. But with this opportunity comes a problem: it’s complex. Every marketplace works differently. Every campaign requires customization. Data is fragmented. And for brands and businesses that want to grow, that’s a major obstacle.

Nlockd solves this. We’re not building a “tool,” we’re building an operating system for marketplace sales. From automated product listings and price optimization to ad management and channel strategy, everything comes together in one cockpit, intelligently driven by AI. For brands. For agencies. For anyone who wants control over performance and scale.

The model works and it’s growing: We launched our commercial model at the start of 2025. Four months later we have: 15 agencies onboard, including giants like Havas and IO; Major brands such as BISSELL, Voce Haircare, Orthex and Wildpeak; More than 65 marketplaces connected to our platform; Clients generating thousands of euros in extra revenue each month through our system.

We’re now growing at an average pace of two new agencies per week, each starting with at least two of their clients. Demand is here. The flywheel is spinning.

What makes Nlockd unique?

Agency-first distribution model: smart scale via the existing marketing infrastructure

Modular SaaS platform: PIM, OMS, ERP and advanced AI modules

AI for commerce: automated channel selection, dynamic pricing, ad optimization and real-time dashboards

Scalable and repeatable: built on cloud-native technology with proven integrations

Founder @ Nlockd

Rob van Gent

Sharing hard-won lessons from the e-commerce trenches.
Topics: marketplace scale, AI-commerce, agency reinvention, and platform strategy.

- Speak and post regularly about how agencies can adapt in the AI era
- Interviewed by podcasts, featured in panels, and consistently creating content to educate & challenge the industry
- Building authority by sharing ideas, not just outcomes

E-commerce Speaker & Content Creator

Helped 25+ companies grow through better commerce decisions.

From backend builds to Amazon rollouts, hands-on, honest, and deeply connected.

- Designed and executed e-commerce and marketplace strategies for brands like Light & Living, Bissell, Smit & Co, and PVG
- Managed end-to-end platform migrations (Magento, Shopify)
- Built and coached internal teams for long-term success
- Blended strategy with execution, often embedding directly into leadership teams

Strategic E-commerce Advisor (Freelance)

Various companies

From founding a performance marketing agency to leading digital commerce for fashion and beauty brands, I’ve spent over a decade at the intersection of online growth and hands-on execution.

Highlights include:

- Scaling D2C and marketplace sales at Goosecraft, LOOKx, and Little Label
- Running all e-commerce ops at ShirtDeal and TFE.agency
- Early roles in digital sales and strategy at Sulis, Ad Pepper, and Hi-Media

These years gave me the scars, instincts, and network that now power my work at nlockd.

Earlier Roles in E-commerce & Digital Growth

I'm Rob van Gent, founder of Nlockd, husband, father of three, avid sailor, runner, field hockey enthusiast, and passionate cook. “Fifteen” years ago I started in e-commerce. Back then, webshops were still at the core of online sales. Over time, marketplaces have come to dominate.

What I’ve seen firsthand across multiple companies in recent years is the loss of control and oversight once they try to sell across multiple platforms at the same time. Much of it was — and still is — manual work. A patchwork of purchased systems gets tied together into an expensive, maintenance-heavy and inefficient setup. That’s a shame, because both the market and the technology are ready for the next step.

Nlockd was built from that conviction and passion. It was never meant to be just another tool, but an integrated system that brings everything together: product data, campaigns, ads, settlements, and more. Not only to streamline processes, but to make growth on marketplaces possible — and more profitable.

We’re not building this platform because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. For every brand or business that wants more than just being present on one or two marketplaces, and that aims to reach tens of millions of additional consumers. For every agency that wants to guide their clients in this shift. For everyone who wants to help shape the next generation of e-commerce.

The era of the single webshop is over

E-commerce used to be about optimizing one webshop.
Now it’s about orchestrating an entire ecosystem.

According to Emerce, 100% of companies have their own webshop, 94% use Google Shopping, 36% use Bol, 17% Amazon, and 35% have an app.

The question isn’t if you use more channels, it’s how you connect them.
The future isn’t multichannel, it’s connected commerce.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

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Founder @ Nlockd | The AI-powered Operating System for Commerce

Brands understand marketplaces better than retailers.

63% of brands are active on Bol.
Only 23% of retailers.
Same on Amazon: 43% vs 3%.

Retailers are still stuck on comparison sites and Google Shopping.
Brands get it, marketplaces aren’t just about selling, they’re about visibility, data, and brand experience.

If you still see marketplaces as competitors, you’ve already lost.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Bol.com is becoming the new homepage for Dutch retail

36% of all companies are active on Bol.
Among brands: 63%.

Bol isn’t “just another channel”.
It’s the front door of Dutch online retail.
If you’re not there, you’re invisible to millions of shoppers.
Bol doesn’t compete with your webshop, it feeds it.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Big news for the Dutch e-commerce scene! 

Amazon is pouring 1.4 billion euros into the Netherlands over the next three years. Why? To boost its marketplace with more Dutch products and give small & medium-sized businesses a bigger stage. 

This isn’t just about Amazon expanding, it's a game-changer for local entrepreneurs and the entire Dutch retail landscape. With Amazon's support for AWS and retail operations, your business could be the next big thing.

If you’re in the game, now’s the time to think bigger. The market is shifting, and those who act fast will lead the next chapter. 

Are you ready to seize the opportunity?

The real revolution isn’t in channels, it’s in connection

Emerce calls it “cross-pollination”: Body & Fit products showing up via Kruidvat on Marktplaats, Brabantia via return platforms, and so on.

That’s the future, not owning channels, but connecting them intelligently.

Commerce is no longer a funnel, it’s a living network that learns from itself.
That’s where the real power shift happens.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Social commerce: the blind spot of Dutch e-commerce

Not a single major Dutch brand is active on Facebook Shop or TikTok Shop.
Meanwhile, About You, Zalando and Shein are already selling through TikTok in Germany and the UK.

We’re behind.
Gen Z shops where they scroll.

If you wait for TikTok Shop to officially launch in the Netherlands, you’ve already missed the wave.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Category strategy is the next growth hack. 

In Sports & Fitness, Bol is a must-add.
In Food, it’s an app.
In Electronics, comparison sites are key.

Every category has its own growth lever, yet most brands use the same playbook everywhere.

The smart ones are building category-based stacks that self-optimize per niche.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Platforms are quietly building walled gardens

Every platform in the Emerce report runs a webshop + Google Shopping.
91% even have their own app.

They’re not just selling, they’re locking in ecosystems.
They own traffic, data, and user behavior.
While brands are debating where to sell, platforms are engineering loyalty.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

250 companies, 7 channels, total chaos

The Emerce report studied 250 Dutch e-commerce players.
Result: 7 core channels. Zero consistency.

Everyone’s experimenting.
No one’s orchestrating.

That’s the real problem in e-commerce, not lack of tech, but lack of integration.
Commerce needs a conductor, not another tool.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Marktplaats: the forgotten giant

Only 7% of companies sell on Marktplaats.nl.
That’s crazy, it still drives over 8 million monthly visitors.

While brands burn budgets on traffic and ads, Marktplaats sits there as an underused channel for returns, refurbished and outlet commerce.

It’s not an old platform. It’s a data-rich second-life marketplace waiting to be used strategically.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Channel choice = margin choice

Every channel comes with its own fees, data access, and margin impact.
Yet most companies still optimize for revenue per channel instead of margin per ecosystem.

The future of commerce isn’t about adding more channels.
It’s about balancing reach, data, and profit through one intelligent OS.

AI will make that balance real-time.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

From Excel hell to AI driven commerce

Hours of updating sheets, fixing data and repeating the same tasks. You know the drill.

In the video we show how AI replaces that entire workflow.
Imagine a price optimizer that continuously adjusts your pricing, a listing engine that updates your products automatically and a campaign manager that learns what works.

This is not future talk.

Watch the full video:
https://lnkd.in/eTPk8imf

Why manual work in commerce has had its best days

Staying stuck in manual processes means falling behind. In the video “AI driven commerce makes manual management obsolete” I explain how AI takes over listings, pricing, campaigns and all the repetitive work that slows teams down.

The result:
• Faster reaction to the market.
• Less manual work, more strategic focus.
• Space for growth, creativity and better customer experience.

Watch the video:
https://lnkd.in/eTPk8imf


#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels #emerce

App commerce is the new loyalty engine

35% of companies have their own app, but most treat it like a mobile webshop.

That’s missing the point.
Apps are about frequency, personalization, and data loops.

In Food and Health, they’re turning into behavior engines.
And habit is the holy grail of commerce.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Comparison sites are making a comeback

36% of retailers still use them.
Only 25% of brands.

Most people laugh at comparison engines, but they’re evolving fast.
With AI-driven pricing and feed automation, they’re becoming real-time data brokers.

The next price war won’t happen in spreadsheets.
It’ll happen in algorithms.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Three channels on average, that’s not enough

The average company uses three channels.
That says more about the industry’s mindset than its maturity.

Shoppers move faster than brands.
Three channels is not a strategy, it’s survival mode.
The winners are those who treat every channel as part of one adaptive AI-driven ecosystem

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

The impact of AI on your team and role

AI does more than automate tasks, it shifts how people work.

Teams move from “executing” to “directing.”

Repetitive work disappears, strategic clarity grows.

It creates a culture of continuous improvement instead of continuous fixing.

Full video here:
https://lnkd.in/eTPk8imf

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Webshop + Google Shopping = the new default

Nearly 25% of companies run only this combo: webshop + Google Shopping.
A small group adds apps or Bol.

That’s the current comfort zone.
But the next wave will be AI-driven channel orchestration, where the mix adjusts dynamically based on performance, seasonality, and margins.

Not adoption, adaptation.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

Where do you actually start with AI in commerce?

Most companies want to adopt AI but do not know where to begin.

My advice: start with one process that drains time, like pricing or listings.

Put an AI based system next to it, measure the impact and scale from there.

This is exactly what we dive into in the video.

Watch it here:
https://lnkd.in/eTPk8imf

Google Shopping is still underrated

94% of companies use Google Shopping.
That’s basically everyone.
But most treat it as an ad extension, not a channel.

The smart ones treat it as a real-time demand radar, where pricing, intent and competition data guide everything else.

Google Shopping isn’t “performance marketing”.
It’s your early-warning system for what’s next in your market.

#AI #eCommerce #Nlockd #SaaS #software #OS #marketplaces #channels

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