Marketplace OnBuy has vowed to help save British businesses after the recent announcement of new lockdown measures due to COVID-19.
With the landscape for British retailers looking bleaker than ever, Q4 performance could determine whether many businesses survive another year.
OnBuy.com, billed as the world’s fastest-growing marketplace, provided a lifeline for businesses throughout the first lockdown by refusing to place restrictions on the products retailers could sell while other marketplaces restricted sales of ‘non-essential’ product ranges.
It has pledged to do the same again through the second lockdown, investing £5 million into a robust marketing strategy for November and December to expand its market share and further increase sales for its sellers.
Its sales leapt substantially from April to October, bolstering the company’s GMV to 700 per cent and resulting in the third consecutive year of over 600 per cent growth.
As the site was founded with a policy of never competing against its own sellers by holding its own retail stock, this success translates directly to huge boosts in sales and profits for independent sellers.
OnBuy makes it easy for retailers to sign up and start selling, and the marketplace has shaken hands with strategic partners to make it even easier for online sellers to go from strength to strength. These include eCommerce solutions provider Volo, which helped one seller make £50,000 in sales from a standing start, establishing a strong foundation from which to benefit from incremental revenue gains as OnBuy continues to rapidly grow.
Meanwhile, online book wholesaler Paperback Shop witnessed an enormous 507 per cent increase in sales on OnBuy between June and September compared to the same period in 2019.
“OnBuy has proven to be a vital additional sales channel for us during the height of the pandemic. It has helped us to ensure that our products appeared in search engine results, which was ideal when so many buyers moved online to seek out products,” said Georgina Pursch, business development manager at Paperback Shop.
“We have been astounded by the increase in sales experienced during what has been such a difficult period for so many retailers. Using OnBuy as a sales channel is perfect for us due to its nature of not competing with sellers by retailing its own products, alongside the one-to-one account management provided, as well as the great visibility gained in internet searches. All of this has supported us with our goals.”
Pertemba, a firm bringing UK brands and distributors to the biggest international marketplaces, also experienced a surge in online sales.
“Our OnBuy annual 2019 sales compared to 2020 year-to-date indicates a 292 per cent sales uplift on last year,” commented Pertemba managing director Ravi Karia. “OnBuy has proved excellent in supporting us with sales during the pandemic.
“This online marketplace is our partner, not our competitor, providing us with another route to market. Selling on OnBuy has been, and is proving to be, a great success.”
VidaXL, an international online retailer, experienced more than an 80 per cent leap in sales during just one month alone, from April to May, and sales continue to outpace previous years.
Coral Han from VidaXL said: “The promotional tools on OnBuy really helped us to increase sales. The company always keep in close contact with us and if we ever need any assistance the team are always very timely in their responses.”
OnBuy’s founder and CEO, Cas Paton, commented: “At the core of our business is the belief in supporting businesses. We’re a true marketplace, not a retailer, so our business model is designed to champion our sellers and not to compete against them.
“We’re incredibly proud to be able to continue providing a lifeline for online retailers, and I’m delighted that the retailers we work with have felt – and will continue to feel – the benefit of OnBuy’s support and growth through one of the hardest moments in recent history.”