OnBuy, the online marketplace that has set out its mission to rival Amazon and eBay, has detailed its latest plans for globalisation, aiming to scale up to span 140 countries by the year 2023. The platform will start with 40 initial sites by the end of this year, and has forecast to drive growth by 50 times the number within four years.
Should OnBuy achieve the goals, it will become the world’s first truly global marketplace.
The platform has even gone as far as to detail how it will achieve the mission, through a combination of 525 million products, a network of robust global partnerships, and an efficient infrastructure. The business has called its a ‘secret sauce’ that will allow for rapid scaling into multiple territories on a tailored platform with local currency payment enabled.
Unlike other online retail operations, which have to build up product ranges from scratch in each new country they launch into, OnBuy suggests that its own product offering can be implemented almost instantly – ‘with an array of global retailers eager to add their product ranges.’
The company recently announced 24,000 per cent growth in just four years, with a reported 600 per cent revenue growth year-on-year for the second year running.
Cas Paton, OnBuy’s founder and CEO, said: “OnBuy’s aggressive growth strategy is unlike anything the eCommerce world has ever seen. We have around 25 million live products in the UK, with 525 million products ready to roll out internationally. The scope of this scale-up is immense, and we aim to double our product numbers in the first 12 months.
“Our ability to scale in the UK, which is known to be one of the toughest eCommerce markets on the planet, has given us the infrastructure and business model that combined, go a long way to supporting us to scale internationally.”
Targeting territories that other marketplaces have been unable to reach is a conscious focal point of the globalisation strategy. OnBuy’s differentiates itself via what it calls a ‘model of low, competitive seller fees, and promising never to hold stock to compete with its merchants.’ It’s so far proven a success for the company.
In addition, OnBuy’s agile business model and low overheads driven by minimal premises costs allows the business to adapt, evolve and thrive, in response to evolving opportunities and the needs of both customers and sellers.
Paton continued: “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.
“We’re not just about big brands and big business: the core value of our business model is to support businesses of all sizes – and we support small UK businesses to help make them visible to a wider audience. This value resonates globally: as the world becomes dominated by large players, we plan to make the world’s retailers more accessible and more visible. Ultimately, we plan to offer consumers more choice, convenience and confidence in buying from any retailer, giving the customer peace of mind through OnBuy guarantees and protections.”
