OnBuy is an online marketplace kinda like Amazon but not at the same time. They are the fastest-growing marketplace in the world, OnBuy doesn’t hold or sell its own stock, but instead focuses on helping sellers grow their businesses through promoting their products. I guess in a time where small business a platform like this is going to be a big help and OnBuy are planning a worldwide scale-up into over 140 countries by 2023, starting with 40 initial sites by year-end 2020 (Ireland set to launch in the next couple of weeks), which would make OnBuy the world’s first truly global marketplace.
Unique Proposition
OnBuy’s unique positioning allows it to offer sellers and buyers an improved marketplace experience: with competitive selling fees and the security that OnBuy will never compete against them, sellers can offer buyers better choice and better prices on a huge variety of products. OnBuy connects buyers with sellers in a safe and secure manner – plus, by never competing with its own sellers, sets a precedent for combining best value for shoppers with the opportunity for sellers to maximise opportunity and profit.
What these guys have done is partner with an array of industry-leading companies, and thanks to a PayPal partnership, both parties can enjoy a secure experience and PayPal Buyer/Seller Protection. So I went for a nose and it reminds me a lot of Amazon or Ebay. Find a product you like, literally anything and within the product you can check different sellers, so again find one you like or a company you trust and off you go. Look like any of these sites there are some nonsense bits and pieces, like Airpods for €2 you know yourself but there are plenty of reputable brands and products to search for. Oh and local currency payment is enabled as standard so even if you do find a product you like you won’t have the panic that Martin found with her recent Asos order.
Growing With No End In Sight
Unlike other online business, which have to build up product ranges from scratch in each new country they launch into, OnBuy’s immense product offering can be implemented almost instantly and as a result they recently announced 24,000% growth in just 4 years, with a reported 600% revenue growth year-on-year for the second year running.
“OnBuy is the marketplace of the present and of the future. Our move into global territories starting in November and continuing over the next 18 months is seen as the delivery of our global marketplace solution – a move that will establish OnBuy as a first-of-its-kind global player. We’ve worked very hard to create the world’s first global marketplace. Having rapidly overtaken our closest competitors, proving conclusively that the appetite exists worldwide for a transparent and ethical marketplace, we will welcome the planet to a better, fairer and more ethical eCommerce ecosystem, and support retailers all over the world in selling through the world’s first true global marketplace.”
Cas Paton, OnBuy’s founder and CEO
Targeting territories that other marketplaces have been unable to reach is a conscious focal point of the this global strategy. OnBuy’s differentiated model of low, competitive seller fees, and promising never to hold stock to compete with its merchants, has proven a resounding success. Essentially the idea is to support businesses of all sizes and in the UK they have supported many small business’ to make things more accessible and more visible. Whether it’s going to work or not honestly I don’t know but anything or anywhere a local Irish business can sell their products to an international audience is well worth a try in my book.
