A new digital retail marketplace has launched in the UK.
UK Marketplace aims to provide a competitive alternative to the established digital marketplaces such as eBay, Etsy and Not On The High Street.
Originally devised as a means to support British businesses post-Brexit, UKM operates on a zero-fee policy for listing. It takes a 5% cut of the final sale and is only open for UK–registered businesses.
UKM claims to discourage the ‘fight to the bottom’ pricing structure frequently seen in digital marketplaces where larger markets, such as China, undercut quality products with cheaper alternatives. It will, however, allow British businesses to sell to global markets.
UKM already has more than 70 professional business sellers listing over 40k products active on its platform with a further 30,000+ pre-registered users ready to download the app.
It says it also has an extensive, established and fast-growing Facebook Marketplace ‘Buy/Sell Group’ network, with over 52,000 active members and 5,000 new listings per month.
“Our aim with UKM is to create the leading one-stop go-to place for almost anything UK-related, while helping our customers to reach a broad global audience for the smallest possible fees,” said spokesperson Martin Saxon.
“By integrating social media-style interactions – buyers will be able to ‘follow’ the sellers they are most impressed with or interested in – we are endeavouring to create a sense of community as well as a simple selling platform. One where sellers can really get to know their buyers, and buyers can purchase with confidence.
“While our intuitive interface and state of the art seller control panel with a sophisticated sales report tool means that literally anyone in the UK can quickly and easily sell their products and track their sales.
“After months of building and beta testing, we are hugely excited to finally launch UKM to the public and can’t wait to see their response.”