Conrad Acquires E-Procurement Provider Hivebuy

Ralf Bühler, CEO of Conrad Electronic, and Bettina Fischer, co-founder and CEO of Hivebuy. Hivebuy has been part of the Conrad Electronic Group since November 2026.

© Conrad

Conrad Electronic has acquired the Berlin-based e-procurement provider Hivebuy. The company, founded in 2021 by Bettina Fischer and Stefan Kiehne, has been part of the Conrad Electronic Group since November 2026. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

With this acquisition, Conrad is expanding its business beyond the mere retail of technical products into the realm of digital procurement processes. Hivebuy develops software for indirect procurement, such as requisitions, approvals, orders, and invoice processing. As its first joint offering, Conrad will introduce the free entry-level solution Hivebuy Start at Electronica 2026. It is scheduled to be available to all Conrad customers starting in the fourth quarter. According to the company, a separate inventory management system is not required for this.

Through Hivebuy Start, employees can access more than ten million product listings from the Conrad product range. Orders can be managed via defined approval processes, deliveries tracked, and invoices processed electronically. For more complex requirements, the full version of Hivebuy—which is subject to a fee—remains available.

Conrad cites high process costs in indirect procurement as one of the reasons for this expansion. According to the BME Benchmark 2025 cited by the company, processing an order costs an average of 121.75 euros. Especially for low-value items, internal procurement costs can thus exceed the value of the goods themselves.

Hivebuy is to continue operating as an independent company even after the acquisition. For existing customers, there will be no changes for the time being. With this acquisition, Conrad is primarily seeking to gain greater insight into the processes both before and after the actual product order is placed.