How Mollie helped PassaSports build the payment foundation for European scale
Manual order refund rate resolved
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“The company is scaling rapidly in multiple currencies and countries. Such growth required a strategic realignment of our checkout profile. We needed a partner for our European expansion for the next few years.”
Jan-Willem de Smeth, CFO of PassaSports
About PassaSports
PassaSports is a leading multi-sports specialist retailer operating across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Sweden. The team made a strategic switch to Mollie, not because of price, but because they needed a partner that could think alongside them as they transformed from a fragmented portfolio of 36 webshops into one unified European brand.
Every great sports story starts with a challenge. For PassaSports, it began in 2002 in an attic room, where two handball enthusiasts on one side of the country realised they couldn’t find a specialised shop for their gear. At the same time, a Tennis fanatic started with the same ambition: a store that was open 24/7 on the internet. But what started as a two-niche webshop quickly grew into a European retail powerhouse.
Following a merger in 2019, PassaSports built a network of more than 36 specialised webshops, including RunningDirect, VoetbalDirect, and Handbalshop, each targeting a distinct audience and sport. Today, the company manages a complex omnichannel operation, combining high-traffic webshops with physical flagship stores and high-profile pop-ups at major events like the ABN AMRO Open, Zandvoort Circuit Run, and CPC Run The Hague.
With over 880K active customers over the last 12 months, more than 1.3 million orders processed per year, and over €100m in annual revenue, PassaSports spans nine sports across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Sweden. Today, they are the go-to destination for players at every level.
Over three years ago, CEO Willem Koopmans, previously at Coolblue and Heineken, arrived with a clear ambition: to transform PassaSports into a strong umbrella brand, with a sport specialist webshop ready to scale across Europe. “Supporting our customer to beat their best” – The mission was simple but ambitious: one PassaSports, built for European growth.
“The Mollie setup was a game-changer. Having our entire payment stack with a single partner that integrates with our ERP means we’ve removed the friction that used to slow us down.”
Jeroen van der Eerden, Tech Director of PassaSports
The Challenge
Managing that many different entities created its own challenges. “We constantly had to switch between different shops, all with different names. A clear, unified line was missing,” says Jeroen. The answer was a single integrated PassaSports platform, where customers could find and order everything.
According to Jan-Willem de Smeth, CFO of PassaSports, “the company is scaling rapidly in multiple currencies and countries. Such growth required a strategic realignment of our checkout profile. We needed a partner for our European expansion for the next few years.”
Behind the scenes, things were just as challenging. Their payment provider wasn’t communicating with their ERP system, MS Dynamics, which meant that 20% of their orders required manual refunds.
“If the PSP and ERP are disconnected, you have to resolve a lot manually. That isn’t scalable,” says PassaSports Business Controller Maik Siemons.
With ambitions to enter new European markets, PassaSports knew they needed to move towards a single, unified payments engine, and that’s when they discovered Mollie.
The Solution
PassaSports needed a strategic partner. They wanted a team that would advise them on the right approach for each market and be there when things need fixing fast. That’s why they chose Mollie as their central payment partner for both ecommerce and physical retail.
Jan-Willem highlights three key reasons why his team decided to work with Mollie:
European expansion: PassaSports is growing rapidly across borders, and “Mollie has the international footprint and agile mindset that match our growth trajectory.”, remarked Jeroen.
Flexible and scalable payment methods: Payment preferences differ greatly across markets. With Mollie, PassaSports can now launch a new payment method “within a minute”.
“We were genuinely looking for a tech-savvy partner who could be a one-stop shop for all our payments. Your European footprint and ability to switch quickly were major factors. The payment landscape changes quickly, and now we can add a new payment method within minutes.”
Jeroen van der Eerden, Tech Director, PassaSports
Full peace of mind: The ultimate goal is to be completely unburdened from A to Z. PassaSports needed a single provider that automates the entire refund layer and integrates seamlessly with their ERP system to minimise errors and fraud.
PassaSports worked with the Mollie team to solve their operational hurdles through a tailored, hands-on approach:
An omnichannel experience that offers the best customer journey
PassaSports has optimised its checkout by adding digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, more localised payment methods, and card-on-file for recurring customers, all with a seamless payments experience that avoids redirects.
Beyond the webshop, they rolled out Mollie POS terminals at specialised locations like the PassaTennis stores, the PassaRunning store, the ABN AMRO Open tennis tournament, and multiple pop-up stores and events. With payments, ERP, and POS all connected through a single environment, they now had one clear view of their entire business, whether a customer was buying a racket online or at a stadium pop-up.
“The Mollie setup was a game-changer. Having our entire payment stack within a single partner that integrates with our ERP means we’ve removed the friction that used to slow us down.” Jeroen van der Eerden, Tech Director, PassaSports
This true omnichannel setup brings webshops, physical stores, easy in-store returns, pop-up locations, and future plans for soft POS and loyalty programmes all under one roof. At the checkout, PassaSports regained complete control. Customers now benefit from express wallets, zero redirects, card-on-file functionality for returning shoppers, and seamless local payment methods across Europe.
The right technology
Ready-to-use integrations with the Cashier system (LIV/ACA), ERP (MS Dynamics / XPRT), and Magento headless eliminate back-office friction. By integrating Mollie directly into their ERP system, they turned their payment stack into a scalable plug-and-play model. The transition allowed them to instantly offer the local methods that drive conversion in every market.
“The technology is key, along with the ‘one-stop-shop’ aspect. The timeline for new rollouts is really fast,” notes CFO Jan-Willem de Smeth.
Strategic partnership
Mollie provides a dedicated team, strategic check-ins, and a success manager who actively thinks along with PassaSports. This ensures the team stays future-proof, with advice on innovations such as agentic commerce, checkout optimisations, and Wero.
Plus, short lines of communication keep things moving.
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“We have a great communication triangle via Slack. I can talk directly to Mollie and our web developers simultaneously. Instead of waiting on each other, I just send a Slack message and have an answer or a new payment method live within a minute. ”
Jeroen van der Eerden, Tech Director, PassaSports
The Results
The partnership with Mollie has transformed how PassaSports manages its growth and its bottom line. Here is the core impact:
Rapid wallet adoption: In Germany, the strategic addition of Apple Pay and Google Pay drove an immediate uplift. Apple Pay alone now handles 10% of all German transactions, directly replacing older, clunkier payment methods.
One solution for all payments: Online retail, physical retail, and event PIN terminals now all run on a single payment system.
Looking Ahead to the Future
With a solid payment foundation in place, PassaSports is exploring the perfect product-market fit for its next big moves into Wallonia, Austria and France. They’re also expanding their range beyond the nine sports they currently cover, with new categories in their sights.
“If we expand into Austria, I expect a partner to guide us on which payment methods are required there. With Mollie, we aren’t just a number in a process. Mollie adapts to what we want. Within a week of requesting France, it was sorted. It’s a true, very hands-on partnership,” says Jeroen.
A Partnership Built for the Future
Looking further ahead, PassaSports wants to bridge the gap between its online and physical stores to create a flawless loyalty programme.
With Mollie already involved in planning the right payment strategy for each new market, they have a scalable, international partner ready to support their mission: being the ultimate teammate for every athlete in Europe.
Ready to scale your retail stack across Europe? Talk to our unified commerce experts today about how you can increase conversion and expand into new European markets.