How to sell to CTOs at E-commerce companies in Netherlands
CTOs in e-commerce companies in the Netherlands are primarily focused on system uptime and performance metrics. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of the technical challenges they face, such as scaling issues during peak sales periods. Addressing how your solution can enhance their platform's reliability is crucial for engagement.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 578 e-commerce company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- system downtime during sales events
- scalability issues with traffic spikes
- data security vulnerabilities
- integration challenges with new tools
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent platform outages
Search for news or reports on e-commerce platform outages affecting Dutch companies. Use Google Alerts or industry news sites to filter for incidents in the last month. This provides a timely trigger to reach out and offer solutions that improve uptime.
- 02
Target brands with rapid growth
Look for online stores in the Netherlands that have recently received funding or launched new product lines. Use platforms like Crunchbase to filter for companies that fit this criterion. These brands often struggle with scalability and may be more receptive to discussions about infrastructure improvements.
- 03
Address security concerns directly
Research current security challenges faced by e-commerce companies, especially regarding data breaches or payment fraud. Tailor your messaging to highlight how your solution mitigates these risks. Mention specific compliance standards relevant to the Netherlands to resonate with their priorities.
- 04
Leverage industry-specific events
Identify upcoming e-commerce conferences or webinars in the Netherlands. Use Eventbrite or LinkedIn to find events where CTOs will be present. Reach out to attendees before the event to schedule brief meetings, as they are likely to be more open to discussions during these networking opportunities.
- 05
Follow up with insights on tech trends
After your initial outreach, send a follow-up email that includes insights on emerging technology trends in e-commerce, such as AI-driven personalization or headless commerce. This positions you as a knowledgeable partner and can help prompt a conversation about their future tech needs.
Can e-commerce companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 578 e-commerce companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 19.6% of 1–10-person companies against 67.5% of the largest — 48 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Improving uptime for your e-commerce site
- Scaling your platform for peak sales
- Addressing security in online retail
Questions
- Why do CTOs in e-commerce ignore unsolicited outreach?
- CTOs often receive numerous cold emails daily, making them selective about responses. If outreach lacks specific relevance to their current challenges, such as downtime or security issues, it may be overlooked. Tailoring messages to their immediate concerns increases the chances of engagement.
- What common challenges do CTOs face in e-commerce?
- CTOs in e-commerce frequently contend with system reliability, especially during high-traffic periods. They also grapple with ensuring data security and managing integrations with various platforms. These challenges require constant attention and resources, making them critical points for outreach.
- How can I make my outreach stand out to e-commerce CTOs?
- To differentiate your outreach, focus on specific pain points relevant to their business, such as recent outages or security incidents. Providing actionable insights or solutions tailored to their unique situation can capture their attention better than generic pitches.
- What role do partnerships play for e-commerce CTOs?
- Partnerships can significantly enhance a CTO’s ability to implement new technologies effectively. Collaborating with specialized vendors can provide the necessary support for scaling operations and addressing security challenges, making it a priority for CTOs seeking reliable solutions.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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