General Marketplaces
Platform Innovation and Development
In the reporting year, innovation efforts at General Marketplaces focused on boosting marketplace liquidity and building scalable platform capabilities in classifieds and Ricardo. Key initiatives addressed cross-platform integration, payment and logistics optimisation, seller value creation, trust and security, as well as demand growth, resulting in improved conversion, revenue resilience, and long-term scalability.
Cross-posting from classifieds to Ricardo advanced cross-platform interaction and ecosystem integration, increasing inventory reach and buyer exposure. At the same time, “resale as a service” proof-of-concept projects enabled professional sellers to bulk-import inventory via file-based integrations, reducing onboarding friction and expanding professional supply on Ricardo. These initiatives strengthened marketplace liquidity and established a foundation for scalable B2C and professional seller growth.
In the field of logistics and shipping, innovation efforts focused on increasing adoption and commercial optimisation. Key developments included increased Swiss Post label adoption, the promotion of Pick@Home, the introduction of new shipping-related promotional mechanics, and experimentation with alternative shipping label pricing models. These initiatives improve buyer convenience, increase seller adoption of integrated logistics, and support margin and conversion optimisation.
There was significant progress in payments and monetisation capabilities. Developments included the extension of pay-per-ad integrations on classifieds, the rollout of a new classifieds payment flow, and the migration of classifieds payment services from Datatrans to alternative provider Adyen, alongside the consolidation of success fee payments from Stripe to Adyen. This marked an important step toward a unified payment infrastructure, improving operational efficiency, scalability, and future product flexibility.
The introduction of fast-track payouts for MoneyGuard further enhanced seller value creation, enabling faster fund availability and better cash-flow predictability. In addition, preparations for Ricardo Plus established the foundations for a seller benefits programme offering discounts and feature advantages which are set to increase retention, platform engagement, and long-term seller loyalty.
Innovation in demand growth and content focused on improving discoverability and engagement. Initiatives included continued investments in SEO optimisation to increase session engagement, the introduction of automated translation for user-generated descriptions on Ricardo, and the launch of FreshStories, which delivers personalised, story-based content inspired by social media formats. These developments enhance cross-language discovery, increase engagement, and modernise the content experience for buyers.
Trust, security, and compliance remained core priorities. Key initiatives included MFA enhancements to reduce account takeovers, the introduction of risk-scoring models for detecting fraudulent messaging on classifieds, and the migration of the identity verification provider. Together, these measures boost fraud prevention, improve regulatory compliance, and increase trust in transactions and communications. The delivery of these platform initiatives was accompanied by continued discipline in capital allocation and execution.
Capital Expenditure
in CHF million, capex in % of revenue
Capital expenditure primarily consists of capitalised intangible assets developed internally, which decreased to CHF 6.5 million, representing a 12.8% decline. With fewer employees contributing to these assets, capital expenditure as a percentage of revenue dropped 2.8 percentage points to 8.7% compared with 2024.
Overall, the 2025 innovation agenda boosted core marketplace capabilities, accelerated integration across platforms, and laid the groundwork for scalable monetisation and growth. These investments enhance operational resilience, improve seller and buyer experience, and position the marketplaces for sustained financial performance and future innovation.
Business Performance
General Marketplaces delivered strong performance in 2025, with revenue increasing by CHF 10.3 million to CHF 75.7 million. This reported growth includes the effect of recognising shipping labels on a gross basis under revised contractual terms with the parcel provider, effective from 2025. Excluding this change on a like-for-like basis, revenue increased by CHF 6.0 million, corresponding to year-on-year growth of 9.1%. This was driven by solid momentum in both the transactional and classifieds revenue streams, and an increased take rate for Ricardo due to MoneyGuard.
The Adjusted EBITDA for General Marketplaces increased to CHF 35.2 million, up from CHF 27.3 million in 2024, representing year-on-year growth of 28.9%. This improvement was primarily driven by incremental revenue growth, supported by a lower personnel cost base resulting from reduced headcount and greater efficiency in operating expenses.
Revenue Development by Revenue Streams
in CHF million, growth in %
Adjusted EBITDA
in CHF million, margin in %
Transactional Revenue
Transactional marketplace products are designed to simplify buying and selling, enable trusted exchanges, and support everyday secondhand transactions. The Ricardo platform recorded sustained user engagement and platform activity, with gross merchandise value (GMV) increasing by CHF 28.2 million to CHF 559.7 million. The take rate, defined as success fees and revenue from MoneyGuard (escrow service) divided by GMV, increased by 0.4 percentage points to 9.2%. This improvement was primarily driven by greater adoption of MoneyGuard, reflecting strong customer demand, enhanced monetisation, and a continued focus on providing a secure transaction environment.
Gross Merchandise Value
in CHF million, growth in %
Ricardo Take Rate
in %
The growth in GMV was supported by multiple initiatives that strengthened user conversion, platform value, and transaction quality. A key driver was the successful upselling of classifieds users to Ricardo, enabled by sharing Ricardo inventory in classifieds channels to increase visibility, as well as cross-posting classifieds inventory to Ricardo to increase transaction volume. Ricardo AI contributed to growth through AI-driven listing assistance and the introduction of a visual shopping experience, reducing seller friction and increasing user engagement.
New AI-based fraud detection monitoring significantly enhanced platform trust in both classifieds messages and Ricardo Q&As. This initiative resulted in more secure, higher-quality transactions and consequently a tenfold reduction in customer care cases relating to fraud.
Classifieds, Advertising, and Service Revenue
General Marketplaces products are designed to simplify selling through pay-per-ad listings and integrated services, such as the direct purchase of shipping labels for Ricardo transactions, while enhancing promotion through high-visibility marketplace placements. Classifieds revenue grew by 12.1%, driven primarily by the introduction of pay-per-ad pricing in vehicles category and the subsequent expansion of paywalling to categories such as jobs, animals, and services.
Advertising revenue declined by 9.0% percent, mainly due to Google sunsetting their in-app Adsense product. Traditional display advertising revenues (excluding Adsense) were in line with the Swiss display market as a whole, with stable year-on-year performance.4 This relative resilience was driven by a sharper focus on direct sales resulting in double digit growth, while open market sales decreased. This trend repeated across other business units where advertising represents a significantly smaller share of total revenue.
Services and Other revenue increased by 38.9% on a like-for-like basis, supported by a healthy increase in shipping-label adoption, as more users chose to purchase labels directly from Ricardo. This development reflects the growing appeal of integrated logistic solutions and the convenience of a single, managed transaction flow.