Former eBay/Marktplaats Executive to Manage uShip’s Rapid Europe Growth
AUSTIN, Texas – April 1, 2011 – uShip, the online transport marketplace, today announced that Lupo Westerhuis, former executive at eBay-owned Marktplaats.nl, has been named General Manager of uShip Europe. In this newly-formed position, Westerhuis will oversee business and marketing priorities, strategy and implementation that impact uShip’s position across Europe, including its growing localized presence in United Kingdom, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Austria and the European Union.
Most recently, Westerhuis spent three years (2007-2010) with Marktplaats.nl as new business development manager, where he evaluated and implemented new business, partnerships, products and sales opportunities. He also developed and launched a pilot for a travel portal on Marktplaats.nl. Prior to Marktplaats, Westerhuis earned his MBA from INSEAD in 2007 and spent five years (2001-2006) with Deloitte and Arthur Andersen as a tax attorney. Learn more on Westerhuis’ background on his LinkedIn Profile.
Westerhuis joins uShip as the company is experiencing extraordinary growth across Europe. Cross-border deliveries in the region are up more than 400% compared to 2010, while transport listings – which serve as a proxy for consumer demand – are up nearly 700%. Today, 20% of listings across uShip touch Europe in some way, either by origin, destination or within. Last year, that figure was just 10%. Since 2004, uShip’s competitive-bidding marketplace has saved European shipping customers $3 million in delivery costs over published rates.
Key partnerships across Europe are helping fuel this increase, including Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (global, heavy equipment), Markt.de (Germany, online classifieds), mascus.de (Germany, heavy equipment), Parcel2Go (UK, small packages) and ResaleWeekly (UK, heavy equipment). uShip has also forged several relationships with eBay across Europe, including Mobile.de (eBay’s largest European autos site), eBay Germany and eBay UK.
“Lupo brings ideal credentials to uShip’s GM role in Europe – he has experience in online marketplaces, business development, management background, he’s multilingual and a Dutch national who knows the European landscape,” said Matt Chasen, CEO and founder of uShip. “With both the UK and Germany growing rapidly and cross-border transport booming, we’re confident Lupo can help our continued growth across Europe.”
“This is a very exciting time to be joining uShip and to lead its continued growth across Europe,” said Westerhuis. “It’s not only an incredible opportunity for the business, but ultimately for customers who now have an alternative for transporting large goods that saves them money, causes less stress and reduces emissions.”
About uShip
uShip helps relieve the stress and high cost of moving hard-to-ship items, such as heavy equipment, trucks, cars, boats, LTL/FTL brokered freight, household goods, pets and more. Since it was founded in 2004, the uShip marketplace has attracted $200 million in business transactions, one million customers and 200,000 service providers. uShip operates globally with localized functionality in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, The Netherlands, Austria European Union, Canada, and Australia. http://www.uship.com
